New Contree: 2012 No 65
Contents
No. 65, December 2012
Articles
- Voor 1652 - Vakhistorici se interpretasies van die vroeë Suid-Afrikaanse geskiedenis. / De Klerk, P
- The lending practices of township micro-lenders and their impact on the low-income households in South Africa: a case study for Mamelodi township. / Mashigo, P
- Indigenous "Africans" and transnational "Pan-Netherlanders": past and present in the "re-construction" of post-1994 Afrikaner identity. / Furlong, PJ
- Bantu Education: destructive intervention or part reform? / Giliomee, H
- "An absolute pillar of strength for her husband and the struggle": Molly Fischer (1908-1964) - wife, mother and struggle activist. / Haasbroek, H
- Navigating the hills and voluntary confinement: Magweja and the socio-economic and political negotiation for space in the diamond mining landscape of Chiadzwa in Zimbabwe, 2006-2009. / Nyamunda, T; Mukwambo, P & Nyandoro, M
- The Obama factor: responses in South Korea (2008-2009). / Du Pisani, JA & Kim, K
- The Rastafari movement in South Africa: Before and after apartheid. / Chawane, M
Book reviews
- Osborn, E.L. 2011. Our new husbands are here: Households, gender and politics in a West African state from the slave trade to colonial rule. [Book review] / Dlamini, SR
- Ittmann, K., Cordell, D.D. & Maddox, G.H. 2010. The demographics of empire: The colonial order and the creation of knowledge. [Book review] / Kanduza, AM
- Pretorius, F. 2012. Geskiedenis van Suid-Afrika van voortye tot vandag. [Boek resensie] / De Klerk, P
- Delmas, A. & Penn, N. 2011. Written culture in a colonial context: Africa and the Americas, 1500-1900. [Book review] / Thompson, L
Editorial
The 65th issue of New Contree literally covers topics over a wide spectrum of the historical and human sciences. The reading starts with an interdisciplinary historiographical tour on the contributions of historians in recording South Africa’s early history. De Klerk, as author of Voor 1652 – Vakhistorici se interpretasies van die vroeë Suid-Afrikaanse geskiedenis, criticises historians for not having paid more attention to critically analyse the research contributions of other historians or having cared to invest in comparative history. De Klerk suggests a refreshing repackaging of South Africa’s early history to provide new insights. Patrick Furlong in turn takes the reader on an interesting imaginative road of understanding and dealing with the white Afrikaner as the present day marginalised which in the past was mainly contended from a multicultural and transnational angle. Furlong argues that the impacts of Low Country influence in South Africa are downplayed but could be crucial in reconstructing Afrikaner identity.
In The lending practices of township micro-lenders and their impact on the low-income households in South Africa: A case study for Mamelodi Township, Polly Mashigo invites the reader into some regional economic history by introducing qualitative and quantitative research results on the micro-lending culture of low-income households in the Mamelodi Township. From economics the cast is on South Africa’s educational history from a multi-perspective angle, developed from the pen of Hermann Giliomee in Bantu Education: Destructive intervention or part reform? The reader is challenged to argue this contentious theme shrouded in perceptions, due to insufficient knowledge and a lack of openness, by also considering other points of departure. Then Hannes Haasbroek exposes the reader to a graze of gender in some political history by representing Molly Fischer’s life as wife, mother and struggle activist in the world of her famous husband and fervent Communist supporter Bram Fischer.
Two articles cover significant contemporary insights on historical research outside South Africa. Tinashe Nyamunda and co-authors provide insights on oral narratives in the socio-economic and political spaces of the diamond mining landscape in Chiadzwa, Zimbabwe. Du Pisani and Kim follow a similar research approach in The Obama factor: Responses in South Korea (2008-2009) by concentrating on media responses and community expectations. A remark by these authors that’s endorsed is that local events impact on global matters but that the significance in understanding the implications of global events only becomes of value if applied in local situations.
Contributions for the 2013 special edition of New Contree are awaited. This issue will probably appear during the second part of this year.
Recent Submissions
-
Delmas, A. & Penn, N. 2011. Written culture in a colonial context: Africa and the Americas, 1500-1900. [Book review]
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2012) -
Pretorius, F. 2012. Geskiedenis van Suid-Afrika van voortye tot vandag. [Boek resensie]
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2012) -
Ittmann, K., Cordell, D.D. & Maddox, G.H. 2010. The demographics of empire: The colonial order and the creation of knowledge. [Book review]
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2012) -
Osborn, E.L. 2011. Our new husbands are here: Households, gender and politics in a West African state from the slave trade to colonial rule. [Book review]
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2012) -
The Rastafari movement in South Africa: Before and after apartheid.
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2012)Rastafari as a movement originated in the Caribbean Island of Jamaica during the 1930s. From Jamaica, it spread to other parts of the world including South Africa. It is argued in this article that the ideological ... -
The Obama factor: responses in South Korea (2008-2009).
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2012)An analysis is made in this article of responses in the South Korean media to the rise of Barack Obama, starting with his appearance on the scene as presidential contender, then being nominated as the official candidate ... -
Navigating the hills and voluntary confinement: Magweja and the socio-economic and political negotiation for space in the diamond mining landscape of Chiadzwa in Zimbabwe, 2006-2009.
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2012)This article focuses on the socio-economic and political experiences of the artisanal diamond miners and the various communities within the hills of Chiadzwa situated in the Marange area of Manicaland Province in Zimbabwe. ... -
"An absolute pillar of strength for her husband and the struggle": Molly Fischer (1908-1964) - wife, mother and struggle activist.
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2012)This article concentrates on the life and times of Molly Fischer, wife of the renowned Communist and struggle-activist Bram Fischer. Molly and Bram’s life was not only woven together by their love for each other, but ... -
Bantu Education: destructive intervention or part reform?
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2012)The introduction of public education for blacks in 1953 and the withdrawal of state subsidies from mission schools were among the most controversial measures that the National Party (NP) government took. In introducing Bantu ... -
Indigenous "Africans" and transnational "Pan-Netherlanders": past and present in the "re-construction" of post-1994 Afrikaner identity.
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2012)This article explores two strategies to “re-imagine” Afrikaner identity in a post-apartheid South Africa in which white Afrikaners, once politically and culturally dominant, have become increasingly marginalized. One, ... -
The lending practices of township micro-lenders and their impact on the low-income households in South Africa: a case study for Mamelodi township.
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2012)Access to finance (cash/credit) is central to economic development and improving the living standards of people. Faced with uncertainty about future prospects, illiquid and irreversible nature of assets, the low-income ... -
Voor 1652 - Vakhistorici se interpretasies van die vroeë Suid-Afrikaanse geskiedenis.
(School for Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2012)During the last few decades scholars from various disciplines, such as paleonthology, archeology, anthropology and linguistics, have steadily increased our knowledge of early South African history. Historians are dependent ...
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