Empire and land reform in South Africa

Bibliographic Data

ID12979102
AuthorsSagie Narsiah (0000-0003-2874-7600, University of KwaZulu-Natal, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume19
Issue1
Pages152-157
Publication date2025-03-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1942-7786 • E-ISSN: 2633-674X
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/19427786251329015
OpenAlexW4408692418
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited6

Barely a month into his second term as President of the United States of America, Donald Trump unashamedly projected American exceptionalism and imperialism, or more specifically, a crude form of American empire. Among the numerous executive orders Trump signed was one on South Africa. Trump claimed that the minority Afrikaner group was being targeted by the democratic government. The executive order was linked to a narrow identity politics in one instance and to a material base in another. While the executive order targeted South Africa, it was symbolic of a broader strategy to support and enable a global far right constituency. In this paper the claims made by Trump in his executive order are engaged. We do this through a brief contextual consideration of South Africa, focusing particularly on the issue of land reform. The paper engages with the ramifications of Trumps’ order and argues that the primary aim is to remove barriers to accumulation in spaces such as South Africa. One instance of the strategy is to weaponize aid. The goal is crude and coarse—the transfer of public wealth to a minority and the consolidation of American rule

Agriculture · Ancient history · Archaeology · Development economics · Economics · Empire · Geography · Land reform · Political science · African history and culture studies · History · Legal Issues in South Africa · South African History and Culture

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