Northern theory, South African engagement: two historical examples from labour studies

Abstract

Is Southern theory formation a process of engagement, critique and transformation of Northern theory from a southern perspective, or a process of alternative and autonomous theory formation? What is the importance of particularizing and expanding Northern theory, in the historical development of South African labour studies? This paper attempts to deal with these questions by analysing the scholarly engagements with Northern theory in the labour aristocracy debate. The paper first, reviews the mainstream theoretical approaches and identifies the key dimensions of ‘labour aristocracy’ mentioned by various scholars. Second, it attempts to consider these dimensions in the South African case. By focusing on the works of Rob Davies and Frederick Johnstone as well as of some other scholars, the paper underlines how the definition of labour aristocracy in South Africa could be different from the European ones, and how a local/authentic aspect, ‘race relations’, could be integrated into the debate based on ‘class relations’.