If neither capitalism nor communism, then what? DF Malan and the National Party's economic rhetoric, 1895-1954

Lindie Koorts

Economic History of Developing Regions, 2014, vol. 29, issue 2, 170-196

Abstract: DF Malan is known as the Afrikaner nationalist leader who led the National Party to victory in 1948 and instituted the policy of apartheid. While much research has been done on the relationship between Afrikaner nationalism, apartheid and Afrikaners' economic interests, this article seeks to understand the Nationalists' mode of thinking by tracing their economic rhetoric - in particular the rhetoric of DF Malan, as one of their chief ideologues. It finds that from an early age, Malan's economic thinking reflected the interests of his class, i.e., as a rural, Cape Afrikaner. This entailed a concern for the interests of farmers and a desire for state protection, which was also tied to anxiety about the rising poor white problem at a time of increasing social stratification in the wake of the Mineral Revolution. Malan expressed an ambivalent hostility to both capitalism and communism: he believed that capitalism (in particular, South African mining capital) created inequality, which in turn gave rise to socialism, the result being class divisions and social unrest. This clashed with his nationalist worldview and his religious beliefs. When Malan entered politics, he joined the National Party, which from the outset expressed the same ambivalence. In the decades that followed, both Malan and the party would shift their weight from anti-capitalism to anti-communism, as the political issues of the day dictated. This ranged from populist anti-mining rhetoric and the threat to expropriate land from private companies, to the communist bogeyman, which formed one of the key tenets of the 1948 election. It reveals a fluid attitude towards the chief economic ideologies of the day, as well as a somewhat vague and opportunistic approach to economic policy.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1080/20780389.2014.955271

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