Contemporary South Africa and the Political Economy of Regional Development

Methembe Mdlalose, Isaac Khambule, Nene Ernest Khalema

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040307441
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

South Africa's struggle in balancing its domestic needs while playing a dynamic developmental role in the African region and global context exposes a complex web of relations shaped by its geostrategic location on the continent, and the world, and the staggering legacies of colonialism and apartheid. As such, understanding the complexities of the global economy and of South Africa's place in it, is of great importance. This book builds upon an existing body of literature which has demonstrated that while the post-apartheid South African state has recast its nation building goals - with advances having been made notably in the area of a stellar post-apartheid constitution, policy directives, and democratic political integration - economic integration and policy implementation presents a projection of captured interests, where big business concerns are entrenched in the post-apartheid state's apparent neo-liberal turn.

The main focus of the book is to contextualise issues relating to three main trends in global discourses on development, which are significant for South Africa, and indeed, for the study of the political economy of regional development in the country from the prism of South Africa as a global capitalist state. These trends include the impact of globalisation, regionalisation, and the marginalisation of South Africa and indeed the African continent in the global economy, thus unpacking the possible role that South Africa might play in regional development.

This volume will be a valuable resource to academics, researchers and students in the fields of regional studies, economics and political theory as well as policymakers, planners and local economic development practitioners.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of contributors
• Extended Foreword
• 1 Neoliberal regionalism in the context of globalisation: Expanding centres and shrinking peripheries
• 2 Regional development in an era of neoliberalism: Reflections on international thinking and implications for policy and practice in South Africa
• 3 The rise and fall of regional planning and policy in South Africa
• 4 Regional development in neoliberal South Africa: A convoluted concoction of economics and politics
• 5 South Africa’s ‘left behind’ spaces: The historical evolution of the former Bantustans
• 6 Regional development and the challenge of ‘left behind’ places in South Africa
• 7 Assessing the benefits of the impact of big data and analytics on local and regional governments
• 8 Spatial targeting and economic development corridors in South Africa
• 9 Promoting place-based regional development through Local Economic Development Agencies and Special Economic Zones in South Africa
• 10 Development or underdevelopment at South Africa’s largest industrial mega-project?
• 11 Political economy of special economic zones modelling and their impact on regional integration and inclusivity: The case of Maluti A Phofung Special Economic Zone, Free State Province, South Africa
• 12 Methodological approaches in regional analysis of Global South contexts: Prospects for South Africa and beyond
• Index