Fraser, Alistair (2007) Land reform in South Africa and the colonial present. Social and Cultural Geography, 8 (6). pp. 835-851. ISSN 1470-1197

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Abstract

This paper develops Derek Gregory's concept of the ‘colonial present’ by demonstrating how the colonial present in rural South Africa in general and around land reform in particular has conditioned land reform outcomes. My development of the concept departs from Gregory's in two key respects. I argue first that, by viewing it in relation to the geopolitics of capitalism, it can be applied to places beyond the immediate influence of US military power; and, second, that social forces which might begin to undermine the colonial present should be examined. My empirical materials draw upon primary research on the emergence of government-sponsored partnerships between restitution beneficiaries and agribusinesses in northern Limpopo. I use the materials to argue that partnerships have emerged given white farmers’ near-monopoly on skills and the persistent power of traditional leaders, two features of South Africa's colonial past whose importance today is suggestive of a colonial present.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	land reform; restitution; colonialism; South Africa; Levubu; Venda;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography
Item ID:	6507
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1080/14649360701712560
Depositing User:	Alistair Fraser
Date Deposited:	03 Nov 2015 10:22
Journal or Publication Title:	Social and Cultural Geography
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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