Farmers, miners and the state in colonial Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia), c.1895-1961.

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis explores the long and entangled relationship of farmers, miners and the state in Southern Rhodesia from 1895 when the Mines and Minerals Act was promulgated to promotethe growth of the country's mining industry. The study ends in 1961 when an amendment tothis same Act was crafted after the incorporation of considerations from the country's farmersand miners. The country's mining law, devised by the British South Africa Company (BSAC) to further its commercial interests, became a subject of controversy around 1907 when agriculture, which had been hitherto neglected, started developing – spurred by disillusionedfortune seekers who had turned from prospecting for gold to pursue farming. The BSAC laws favoured mining and this was challenged by the growing settler farmer community. This laid the basis for the interaction of farmers, miners and the state throughout the study period. The thesis thus explores the protean nature of state policies in dealing with the country's farmersand miners. Mining and agriculture were the country's leading primary industries, with mining contributing more towards the country's revenue until 1945 when it was replaced by agriculture on the apex position. Therefore, state policies on the two sectors had a direct impact on the overall country's economy. The thesis engages broader historiographical conversations onagriculture, mining, conservation and intra-settler relations, law and taxation in SouthernRhodesia. It fills a historiographical gap in existing studies on intra-settler studies in SouthernRhodesia by providing a broader analysis of state-farmer-miner relations incorporatingeconomic, political and conservation concerns. It shows the various shifts in state policies fromCompany administration into Responsible Government and highlights how different nationaland international economic developments impacted on state policies and in turn on minerfarmerinteractions. The study also demonstrates how the adoption of a formal conservationpolicy by the G. Huggins government provided a new context for the regulation of minerfarmerrelations by the state. It argues that, miner-farmer relations during the period under review impacted heavily on state policy and the country's economy.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University