The South African State in 1924

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Periodical article

Title:	The South African State in 1924
Author:	Morrell, Robert
Year:	1987
Periodical:	Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa
Issue:	4
Pages:	39-53
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	political systems Politics and Government History and Exploration
External link:	https://d.lib.msu.edu/tran/33/OBJ/download
Abstract:	This paper is designed to broaden the discussion of the State by returning to historical debates and allowing the past to inform present political discussion. It focuses on two interpretations, those of R. DAVIES et al. (1976) and of D. YUDELMAN (1983). The 1976 article was the first systematic attempt to periodize South African history in terms of both class struggle and changes in the balance of class forces within the ruling class. It sees the importance of the 1924 election in South Africa, which put into power a Pact government, in terms of a transition from imperial capital to national capital. The 1983 article, which is centred on a symbiosis between capital and State, sees no change in government policy after 1924. The present article argues that there are problems with Yudelman's description of South African agriculture in the 1920s and with his statements about the influence of the Pact government on the positions of the white unemployed and the white poor. The author's findings tend to support those of Davies et al. Bibliogr., notes, ref.