Stefan Schirmer
Biographic Data
| ID | 78059 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Stefan Schirmer |
| GIVEN NAMES | Stefan |
| FAMILY NAME | Schirmer |
| SIGNATURE | SCHIRMER S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of the Witwatersrand |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 34 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1994 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Re-thinking agricultural development in South Africa: Black commercial farmers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
This article examines which factors contributed to farmers using land more productively in the past. The article argues that the process behind productivity improvements is strongly associated with, although not confined to, a transition to commercial farming. By focusing on Black farmers who were successful in making this transition, the paper hopes to provide a clear, historically-rooted perspective on the prospects for eradicating the on-going…
Order, Openness, and Economic Change in Precolonial Southern Africa: A Perspective From the Bokoni Terraces
The Bokoni settlement in Mpumalanga, South Africa is the largest known terraced site in Africa. The settlement consisted of intensively farmed terraced fields spanning 150 kilometres along the eastern escarpment. It flourished from around 1500 until the 1820s, after which it all but disappeared. This article first sets out to interpret the growing body of primarily archaeological Bokoni evidence from the perspective of economic history. Another, …
The Future of South African Economic History
Significant progress has been made recently in South African economic history, but much work remains to be done. In the pages that follow we set out a few potential paths of analysis based on developments within the broader discipline at the level of both methodology and theory. We highlight some of the more interesting developments and then offer suggestions as to how they could open up new avenues of exploration within the South African context
The State and Scope of the Economic History of Developing Regions
This paper examines the state and scope of the study of economic history of developing regions, underlining the importance of knowledge of history for economic development. While the quality of the existing research on developing countries is impressive, the proportion of published research focusing on these regions is low. The dominance of economic history research on the North American and Western European success stories suggests the need for …
Manufacturers and the Formulation of Industrial Policy in 1920s South Africa
There are two broad views on the policy role played by manufacturers during the first decades of Union. The influence of manufacturers has either been regarded as insignificant, or they have been held responsible for the narrow protectionism of the post-1924 Hertzog government. This article demonstrates that both judgements are unfair, and that the policy the manufacturers worked with and helped to shape before 1924, was, in many ways, very posit…
Land Reform: The State We are In
Lungisile Ntsebeza and Ruth Hall (eds), The Land Question in South Africa: The Challenge of Transformation and Redistribution (HSRC Press, 2007, ISBN 0-7969-2163-6). Aninka Claassens and Ben Cousins (eds), Land, Power and Custom: Controversies Generated by South Africa's Communal Land Rights Act (UCT Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1-91989-550-5). Deborah James, Gaining Ground? Rights and Property in South African Land Reform (Wits University Press, 2007, …
White Farmers and Development in South Africa
Extracted from text ... 1. Economists include: J. van Zyl, 'Review of The Structure of Commercial Agriculture in South Africa, by P.G. Moll', Development Southern Africa, 6, 2 (June 1989), 267-70; P. Burger and J. Groenewald, 'The Measurement of Managerial Inputs in Agriculture II', Agrekon, 10, 3 (Dec. 1971), 26-8; A. Jansen et al, 'The Measurement of Managerial Inputs in Agriculture IV', Agrekon, 11, 2 (June 1972), 5-14. Historians include S. T…
Motives for mechanisation in South African agriculture, c1940-1980
The motives behind major economic transformations are probably less important than the effects these transformations have had on economy and society. Nevertheless, the factors that caused an econom
Soil Conservation in a Racially Ordered Society: South Africa 1930-1970
This paper examines the ways in which the formulation and implementation of strategies of soil conservation in South Africa during the period 1930–1970 were powerfully influenced by racist attitudes and by the differential political and economic position of whites and blacks within the systems of segregation and apartheid. The paper traces and compares the evolution of state intervention in pursuit of soil conservation in relation to white farmla…
Historical Research and Policy Making in South Africa
Policy Visions and Historical Realities: Land Reform in the Context of Recent Agricultural Developments
Removals and Resistance: Rural Communities in Lydenburg, South Africa, 1940-1961
After 1948, the National Party government implemented coercive policies to remove African landowners and rent tenants from 'white' fanning districts and resettle them in black 'reserves. This paper focuses on the different responses within and among four communities in the Lydenburg district of the eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga Province). It shows how Africans were more than mere victims of these policies but responded actively to the policie…
What would we be without our land and cattle: Migrations, land and labour tenants in Mpumalanga, 1940-1950
The paper is about the impact of migration on labour tenants’ attitudes to land. The quote in the title suggests a close identification with land and cattle; an attitude that reflected labour tenants’ strong ties to a particular lifestyle on white farms. By focusing on the Lydenburg district in the 1940s the paper shows how migration, which only became significant during that decade, affected the attachment to rural resources. Through migration, …
African strategies and ideologies in a white farming district: Lydenburg, 1930-1970
This paper examines the character and impact of African resistance in the white farming district of Lydenburg from 1930 to 1970. The paper shows that, in the 1930s, African labour tenants faced pressure from white farmers who demanded more labour and offered less land. Tenants successfully defended their land and their free time, which prompted farmers to call in the state. The state was also unable to overcome the fairly widespread African oppos…
Reactions to the State: The Impact of Farm Labour Policies in the Mid-Eastern Transvaal, 1955–1960
Order, Openness, and Economic Change in Precolonial Southern Africa: A Perspective From the Bokoni Terraces
The Bokoni settlement in Mpumalanga, South Africa is the largest known terraced site in Africa. The settlement consisted of intensively farmed terraced fields spanning 150 kilometres along the eastern escarpment. It flourished from around 1500 until the 1820s, after which it all but disappeared. This article first sets out to interpret the growing body of primarily archaeological Bokoni evidence from the perspective of economic history. Another, …
Soil Conservation in a Racially Ordered Society: South Africa 1930-1970
This paper examines the ways in which the formulation and implementation of strategies of soil conservation in South Africa during the period 1930–1970 were powerfully influenced by racist attitudes and by the differential political and economic position of whites and blacks within the systems of segregation and apartheid. The paper traces and compares the evolution of state intervention in pursuit of soil conservation in relation to white farmla…
Policy Visions and Historical Realities: Land Reform in the Context of Recent Agricultural Developments
The State and Scope of the Economic History of Developing Regions
This paper examines the state and scope of the study of economic history of developing regions, underlining the importance of knowledge of history for economic development. While the quality of the existing research on developing countries is impressive, the proportion of published research focusing on these regions is low. The dominance of economic history research on the North American and Western European success stories suggests the need for …
Historical Research and Policy Making in South Africa
African strategies and ideologies in a white farming district: Lydenburg, 1930-1970
This paper examines the character and impact of African resistance in the white farming district of Lydenburg from 1930 to 1970. The paper shows that, in the 1930s, African labour tenants faced pressure from white farmers who demanded more labour and offered less land. Tenants successfully defended their land and their free time, which prompted farmers to call in the state. The state was also unable to overcome the fairly widespread African oppos…
Reactions to the State: The Impact of Farm Labour Policies in the Mid-Eastern Transvaal, 1955–1960
Re-thinking agricultural development in South Africa: Black commercial farmers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
This article examines which factors contributed to farmers using land more productively in the past. The article argues that the process behind productivity improvements is strongly associated with, although not confined to, a transition to commercial farming. By focusing on Black farmers who were successful in making this transition, the paper hopes to provide a clear, historically-rooted perspective on the prospects for eradicating the on-going…
Motives for mechanisation in South African agriculture, c1940-1980
The motives behind major economic transformations are probably less important than the effects these transformations have had on economy and society. Nevertheless, the factors that caused an econom
The Future of South African Economic History
Significant progress has been made recently in South African economic history, but much work remains to be done. In the pages that follow we set out a few potential paths of analysis based on developments within the broader discipline at the level of both methodology and theory. We highlight some of the more interesting developments and then offer suggestions as to how they could open up new avenues of exploration within the South African context
Land Reform: The State We are In
Lungisile Ntsebeza and Ruth Hall (eds), The Land Question in South Africa: The Challenge of Transformation and Redistribution (HSRC Press, 2007, ISBN 0-7969-2163-6). Aninka Claassens and Ben Cousins (eds), Land, Power and Custom: Controversies Generated by South Africa's Communal Land Rights Act (UCT Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1-91989-550-5). Deborah James, Gaining Ground? Rights and Property in South African Land Reform (Wits University Press, 2007, …
Removals and Resistance: Rural Communities in Lydenburg, South Africa, 1940-1961
After 1948, the National Party government implemented coercive policies to remove African landowners and rent tenants from 'white' fanning districts and resettle them in black 'reserves. This paper focuses on the different responses within and among four communities in the Lydenburg district of the eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga Province). It shows how Africans were more than mere victims of these policies but responded actively to the policie…
Reactions to the State: The Impact of Farm Labour Policies in the Mid-Eastern Transvaal, 1955–1960
African strategies and ideologies in a white farming district: Lydenburg, 1930-1970
This paper examines the character and impact of African resistance in the white farming district of Lydenburg from 1930 to 1970. The paper shows that, in the 1930s, African labour tenants faced pressure from white farmers who demanded more labour and offered less land. Tenants successfully defended their land and their free time, which prompted farmers to call in the state. The state was also unable to overcome the fairly widespread African oppos…
Removals and Resistance: Rural Communities in Lydenburg, South Africa, 1940-1961
After 1948, the National Party government implemented coercive policies to remove African landowners and rent tenants from 'white' fanning districts and resettle them in black 'reserves. This paper focuses on the different responses within and among four communities in the Lydenburg district of the eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga Province). It shows how Africans were more than mere victims of these policies but responded actively to the policie…
What would we be without our land and cattle: Migrations, land and labour tenants in Mpumalanga, 1940-1950
The paper is about the impact of migration on labour tenants’ attitudes to land. The quote in the title suggests a close identification with land and cattle; an attitude that reflected labour tenants’ strong ties to a particular lifestyle on white farms. By focusing on the Lydenburg district in the 1940s the paper shows how migration, which only became significant during that decade, affected the attachment to rural resources. Through migration, …
Soil Conservation in a Racially Ordered Society: South Africa 1930-1970
This paper examines the ways in which the formulation and implementation of strategies of soil conservation in South Africa during the period 1930–1970 were powerfully influenced by racist attitudes and by the differential political and economic position of whites and blacks within the systems of segregation and apartheid. The paper traces and compares the evolution of state intervention in pursuit of soil conservation in relation to white farmla…
Historical Research and Policy Making in South Africa
Policy Visions and Historical Realities: Land Reform in the Context of Recent Agricultural Developments
Motives for mechanisation in South African agriculture, c1940-1980
The motives behind major economic transformations are probably less important than the effects these transformations have had on economy and society. Nevertheless, the factors that caused an econom
White Farmers and Development in South Africa
Extracted from text ... 1. Economists include: J. van Zyl, 'Review of The Structure of Commercial Agriculture in South Africa, by P.G. Moll', Development Southern Africa, 6, 2 (June 1989), 267-70; P. Burger and J. Groenewald, 'The Measurement of Managerial Inputs in Agriculture II', Agrekon, 10, 3 (Dec. 1971), 26-8; A. Jansen et al, 'The Measurement of Managerial Inputs in Agriculture IV', Agrekon, 11, 2 (June 1972), 5-14. Historians include S. T…
Manufacturers and the Formulation of Industrial Policy in 1920s South Africa
There are two broad views on the policy role played by manufacturers during the first decades of Union. The influence of manufacturers has either been regarded as insignificant, or they have been held responsible for the narrow protectionism of the post-1924 Hertzog government. This article demonstrates that both judgements are unfair, and that the policy the manufacturers worked with and helped to shape before 1924, was, in many ways, very posit…
Land Reform: The State We are In
Lungisile Ntsebeza and Ruth Hall (eds), The Land Question in South Africa: The Challenge of Transformation and Redistribution (HSRC Press, 2007, ISBN 0-7969-2163-6). Aninka Claassens and Ben Cousins (eds), Land, Power and Custom: Controversies Generated by South Africa's Communal Land Rights Act (UCT Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1-91989-550-5). Deborah James, Gaining Ground? Rights and Property in South African Land Reform (Wits University Press, 2007, …
The State and Scope of the Economic History of Developing Regions
This paper examines the state and scope of the study of economic history of developing regions, underlining the importance of knowledge of history for economic development. While the quality of the existing research on developing countries is impressive, the proportion of published research focusing on these regions is low. The dominance of economic history research on the North American and Western European success stories suggests the need for …
The Future of South African Economic History
Significant progress has been made recently in South African economic history, but much work remains to be done. In the pages that follow we set out a few potential paths of analysis based on developments within the broader discipline at the level of both methodology and theory. We highlight some of the more interesting developments and then offer suggestions as to how they could open up new avenues of exploration within the South African context
Order, Openness, and Economic Change in Precolonial Southern Africa: A Perspective From the Bokoni Terraces
The Bokoni settlement in Mpumalanga, South Africa is the largest known terraced site in Africa. The settlement consisted of intensively farmed terraced fields spanning 150 kilometres along the eastern escarpment. It flourished from around 1500 until the 1820s, after which it all but disappeared. This article first sets out to interpret the growing body of primarily archaeological Bokoni evidence from the perspective of economic history. Another, …
Re-thinking agricultural development in South Africa: Black commercial farmers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
This article examines which factors contributed to farmers using land more productively in the past. The article argues that the process behind productivity improvements is strongly associated with, although not confined to, a transition to commercial farming. By focusing on Black farmers who were successful in making this transition, the paper hopes to provide a clear, historically-rooted perspective on the prospects for eradicating the on-going…
Political science (15 works) · Economics (13 works) · Geography (13 works) · South African History and Culture (11 works) · Agriculture (8 works) · Archaeology (8 works) · Economic growth (7 works) · African studies and sociopolitical issues (6 works) · Development economics (6 works) · History (6 works)