Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Resilience Of Comprador Capitalism: “New” Economic Groups In Southern Africa, Stefan Andreasson

Stefan Andreasson

This chapter examines the emergence of new economic groups in South Africa and Zimbabwe in the context of “paternalistic trusteeship” by governments themselves or by old economic groups managing to retain economic and political influence and aiming to forge stable and mutually profitable relations with new economic elites. New economic actors emerge when political and economic liberalization increases “points of entry” to economic (and political) activity for those previously marginalized or barred from entry. A key point of contention in the debate on the aims and roles of these groups is whether old, entrenched economic groups are simply in the …