The origins of agrarian capitalism in South Africa
A Critique of the 'Social History' Perspective
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4603230 |
|---|---|
| Authors | M J Murray (0000-0002-4448-281X, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1989 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 645-665 |
| Publication date | 1989-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Southern African Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0305-7070 • E-ISSN: 1465-3893 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03057078908708219 |
| OpenAlex | W1985390760 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 18 |
The ‘social history’ perspective is the dominant intellectual paradigm guiding historical research in the field of agrarian studies. By making use of previously untapped primary source materials and by narrowing the focus of historical investigation, social historians have made great strides in pioneering whole new arenas of scholarly research. Yet the ‘social history’ paradigm does not rest on solid epistemological and conceptual footing. Its deficiencies stem from the failure to specify theoretically the nature and character of agrarian capitalism and the practice of substituting uncritically group dynamics for class analysis. These weaknesses reinforce an unfortunate tendency towards theoretical agnosticism and conceptual eclecticism, which in turn limit the intellectual capacity of the social history paradigm to offer a coherent and consistent explanation for the peculiarity of South Africa's agrarian transformation
Agrarian society · Agriculture · Capitalism · Eclecticism · Epistemology · Intellectual history · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · African history and culture studies · African studies and sociopolitical issues · History · Law · Philosophy · South African History and Culture
Putting a plough to the ground
Fruits of merchant capital
Class, Community and Conflict
The Retreat from Class
Rural Transformations in Industrializing South Africa
Marxism, Ideology and Literature
Peasants, capitalists, and historians
Town and Countryside in the Transvaal
Social history and the transition to capitalism in the South African countryside
Analytic Philosophy of History
Response To Stanley Greenberg
Management and Work Humanization
The restructuring of agrarian class relations in a colonial economy
The Triumph of Marxist Approaches in South African Social and Labour History
The development of capitalism in South African agriculture
The sharecropping economy on the South African Highveld in the early twentieth century
The Dynamics of Rural Accumulation in South Africa
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,2 |
| Citation span | 1991 - 2021 (31) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |