Pathways to understanding white poverty in South Africa 1902 to 1948

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis examines the social and economic circumstances of descendants of mainly Dutch settlers who became known as the poor whites during the early part of the 20th century. Attention is given to particular aspects of rural pastoral society such as farming methods, education, land usage and demographics. A brief sketch of the South African economy prior to the mineral revolution has been included in order to understand the impact on the poor white of the discovery of diamonds and gold which became a trigger for future industrialisation. The widespread failure of their subsistence pastoral economy led to significant urbanisation mainly on the Witwatersrand. The concerns of the Dutch Reformed Church and later Afrikaner politicians for a solution to the poor white problem led to the establishment of the Carnegie Commission, funded mainly by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. An important aspect of the thesis pertains to the way in which knowledge about the poor whites has been produced. The findings and recommendations of the commission are combined with the opinions of historians, economists and poverty writers and presented as part of this thesis. The manipulation of race theories was initially used to provide a justification for segregation between white and black. Later in the century the poor whites were incorporated into the white middle-class with a combination of preferential employment policies, stricter segregation and inclusion in the Afrikaner Nationalist project. Considerable attention is devoted to the influence of scientific racism and eugenics on the changing nature of race relations during the period under review. The overall conclusion argues that urbanisation and industrialisation provided a suitable environment where the process of inclusion of the poor white into Afrikanerdom could be finally concluded.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University