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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Transmission Belt for Transnational Capital or Facilitator for Development? Problematising the Role of the State in the Maputo Development Corridor |
Authors: | Söderbaum, Fredrik Taylor, Ian |
Year: | 2001 |
Periodical: | Journal of Modern African Studies |
Volume: | 39 |
Issue: | 4 |
Period: | December |
Pages: | 675-695 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | Mozambique South Africa |
Subjects: | development regional economic relations transport physical planning Politics and Government Development and Technology Economics and Trade Urbanization and Migration |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/3557345 |
Abstract: | This article problematizes the role of the State in what is claimed to be the 'flagship' of South Africa's Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) programme, the Maputo Development Corridor (MDC). The MDC was launched in 1996 by the Presidents of Mozambique and South Africa in an attempt to reconstruct a cross-border relationship and microregion that had effectively existed since the late 19th century. The MDC paradigm is predicated on a 'big bang' approach built around short-term, capital-intensive and large-scale investment, with a minimal degree of State involvement. The approach is built on the key goal to 'crowd-in' private investments. The article assesses to what extent the State is best understood as a 'transmission belt' for transnational capital or as a 'facilitator' for development. It reveals several flaws in the MDC which reinforce the role of the State as a transmission belt for transnational capital, for instance, the neoliberal market fundamentalism and big-bang approach inherent in the MDC spell 'jobless growth'. However, the MDC does contain several novel and positive features, and its problematic aspects can be overcome through some strategic changes in the MDC approach: a heavier focus on 'development', a more pro-active State, and more comprehensive and inclusive governance structures. Bibliogr., notes, sum. |