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The Politics of African Household Budget Studies in South Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2016

Robert Ross
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Abstract:

This paper traces the development of studies of African household budgets in South Africa, from the 1920s up to the 1970s, and indeed in summary form till the present. It argues that, although the genre seems to be politically neutral, and only concerned to establish “the facts,” in reality the outcome of the various researches, and certainly their presentation was dependent on the political and institutional position of the researcher, whether “liberal,” linked to commercial institutions, or as part of the apartheid state.

Résumé:

Cet article retrace l’évolution des recherches portant sur les budgets des ménages africains en Afrique du Sud. Ces études se sont effectuées à partir des années 1920 jusqu’aux années 1970 et se sont même prolongées sous une forme sommaire jusqu’à aujourd’hui. Bien que ce genre de recherche semble politiquement neutre avec un souci affiché d’établir “les faits,” il s’avère qu’en réalité les résultats des différentes études, et certainement leur présentation, dépendait de la position politique et institutionnelle du chercheur, que celui ou celle-ci soit “progressiste,” ait des liens avec des entreprises, ou avec le régime de l’apartheid.

Type
Blind Spots and Politics in Sources from South Africa
Information
History in Africa , Volume 43 , June 2016 , pp. 205 - 228
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2016 

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