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Study Projects, 1968-1977

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The Bureau's most ambitious publications, apart from The Great White Hoax, were those produced as a result of the Study Projects. These were three in number, and although each project has a distinct character, they have in common the fact that they were all most active during the same period, 1972-1973, and that special funds were raised by the Bureau to finance research and the publication of their results. They have been arranged here in the order in which their first publications appeared.

Study Project on Mass Removals of Population in South Africa, MSS. Afr. s. 1681/109-117:

As early as Feb 1969, the Executive Committee decided that a pamphlet on population removals would be desirable and Guy Arnold wrote to Colin and Margaret Legum, formally asking them to produce it (MSS. Afr. s. 1681/99, folder 7). Although this came to nothing, the idea remained and it was decided that the Ford Foundation would be approached for £20,000 to finance a research project and publications on the subject, channelling the grant through the Africa Publications Trust. An application was made in Aug 1969, of which funds for the project made up only a part. However, on the advice of the Foundation this was scaled down and resubmitted in Dec 1970, retaining the £20,000 for the project. In Sep 1971, the Foundation approved a grant that included €15,840 for the project.

In Mar 1972, the Africa Publications Trust resolved that a start should be made on the project with a view to completing it by Sep 1974. Alan Baldwin was appointed to prepare an outline and investigate sources and methods of obtaining information. An informal group met in Apr 1972 to discuss the project with Baldwin, who produced his first paper on the subject in May. By Jan 1973, a working party had emerged, of whom Colin Legum was the most constant and energetic member, but real control of the project remained with the Africa Publications Trust, with Alan Baldwin serving as Research Officer and principal author of the resultant studies and Nicola (Nicky) Harris as his assistant. Six studies, described individually below, appeared during the following two years. They were all published by the Publications Trust.

The management and financing of the project cannot be followed without making reference to the papers of the Africa Publications Trust, MSS. Afr. s. 1712, the minutes, MSS. Afr. s. 1712/1, folders 2-5, and the Ford Foundation Grant, MSS. Afr. s. 1712/3, folders 4-9, and it is here that the antecedents of the project are traced. Sales of the studies after publication are intermingled with sales of other Bureau and Publications Trust productions in MSS. Afr. s. 1681/96, folder 4 et seq. of the Bureau papers. The papers in this sub-section begin when the Ford grant had already been obtained and the project launched. They are relatively simple in arrangement, beginning with two boxes dealing with all the studies in the project and continuing with material relating to the individual volumes.

General: MSS. Afr. s. 1681/109 and MSS. Afr. s. 1681/119. The first of these boxes deals with the management of the project, Working Party papers, editorial correspondence, financial papers, the design of the series, publicity, and, finally, reactions to the published series. MSS. Afr. s. 1681/110 contains correspondence about research and research materials, which have been kept as much as possible in the order in which Alan Baldwin and Nicky Harris left them.

A Place Called Dimbaza: MSS. Afr. s. 1681/111-112. This study, the first in the series, was dated Nov 1973 and published in Jan 1974. It was by Alan Baldwin and Anthony Hall, who contributed sections concerning the Rev. David Russell, with an introduction by Colin Legum and assistance from Nicola Harris and Duncan Innes. Since Baldwin worked on it in the office, a full range of papers concerning it survives.

Uprooting a Nation: MSS. Afr. s. 1681/113 and MSS. Afr. s. 1681/114, folders 1-9. Second in the series, this study was dated Mar 1974 and published in Jun. Alan Baldwin was the author and it contained a preface which set the series in context and a note on the terminology used by the project. As with Dimbaza, a full range of papers has been preserved.

The Children of Apartheid: MSS. Afr. s. 1681/114, folder 10. This third study was made up by the Bureau from selected extracts from a pamphlet entitled Their Doctor Speaks by Dr Trudi Thomas, previously published in South Africa. It came out in Oct 1974. Understandably, since it was not written for the project in the first place, there is only a single file of papers concerning it.

The Section 10 People: MSS. Afr. s. 1681/115-116. Written by Alan Baldwin, this study was the fourth in the series and was published in Nov 1975. Full papers have been kept.

Disqualified: MSS. Afr. s. 1681/117, folders 1-10. This had the series number 5, appeared in Nov 1975, and was written by Duncan Innes. The material relating to it is substantial.

The Ghetto People: MSS. Afr. s. 1681/117, folder 11. There are very few papers concerning this sixth study, which was written by Fatima Meer. It came out in 1975.

Study Project on the Sudan: MSS. Afr. s. 1681/118-119. This project differs from the other two in that it had only one researcher and author and resulted in the publication of a single study. The report, entitled The Southern Sudan: The Ceasefire and After, was written by T.F. Betts and published on 19 Jun 1974. The idea for a survey of the Sudan refugees was mooted by Betts himself in Feb 1973 in a letter to Colin Legum and enthusiastically taken up by Legum with Jane Symonds. The Africa Publications Trust decided to sponsor his research in Mar and the work proceeded at once. The Publications Trust set about raising the funds to pay for the research and publication expenses in Dec, making a series of appeals to bodies interested in refugee relief. The Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA) paid for the eventual publication. The papers in this sub-section are straightforward, and the file descriptions are self-explanatory. Consultation of the minutes of the Africa Publications Trust, MSS. Afr. s. 1712/1, folders 3 and 4, is essential for obtaining a comprehensive understanding of the project. Sales of the report may be found in the files on sales of publications in the Bureau papers, MSS. Afr. s. 1681/96, folder 4 et seq. On 19 Jun 1974, the date of publication of Betts' report, the Consultative Council held a meeting on Sudan; papers concerning it constitute MSS. Afr. s. 1681/4, folder 6.

Study Project on External Investment in South Africa and South-West Africa (Namibia), MSS. Afr. s. 1681/120-146:

Perhaps the most ambitious enterprise ever launched by the Africa Bureau was the scheme that took shape as the Study Project on External Investment in South Africa and South-West Africa (Namibia). It originated early in 1971, possibly with Guy Arnold, who at the Executive Committee meeting in Apr was asked to set up a working party to propose action regarding a conference on South Africa. By the end of Apr, his draft proposals were in circulation. These envisaged a conference, organised exclusively by the Africa Bureau, but attended by delegates from all over the world, to examine Western relationships with southern Africa and the ways in which investment could be used to counter apartheid. A series of preparatory papers were to be commissioned and later reports would be published. The conference was planned for Oct or Nov 1971 or Jan 1972.

Subsequent discussion among the working party (or steering committee) members brought out finance as the key issue. It was quickly realised that the Bureau could not underwrite such a conference and that sponsors would need to be sought. These sponsors, it was agreed, would need to have no commitment to any policy or interest in southern Africa; they needed to be either charitable foundations or academic bodies.

Some seeding money was provided by Michael Scott through the Bureau's South West Africa Unit account (papers relating to this are filed in MSS. Afr. s. 1681/93, folders 11-13 and explained in the introduction to the Publications section of this list) and a grant for initial research was made by the Daniel J. Bernstein Foundation, the charitable trust set up by Michael Scott's friend, which had so often aided his work. On the strength of these funds, while the search for sponsors continued, Wilfrid Grenville-Grey was appointed Executive Secretary of the Conference in Nov 1971 (although he was nominally employed by the Africa Publications Trust) with Kitty Lloyd-Lawrence as his assistant, and Roger Murray began research.

In Jan 1972, the first general meeting took place, in Sussex, between the Bureau and representatives of interested sponsors. The English sponsors were the Africa Publications Trust and the Institute for the Study of International Organisation, University of Sussex. The American sponsor was the Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver. From Sweden and Germany, sponsorship was gained from the Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, and the Africa Research Unit, Free University of Berlin. The sponsors had the dual role of raising funds and acting, as registered charities, as a channel for receiving them, and of initiating and coordinating research. At the meeting, it was agreed that a conference could not be organised immediately and that a great deal of preparatory research would be necessary. The venture became known as the Study Project on External Investment in South Africa and South-West Africa (Namibia) and it was decided to set up a structure comprising an international board of governors, a London-based steering committee, and a Research Committee. A South West Africa Committee was proposed and Consultation with Business Committees were to be established in England and America. In Feb 1972, the Africa Publications Trust formally arranged to administer funds for 'The Conference' and Charles Harvey was engaged as Research Secretary in Mar.

In practice, the organisation of the project was extremely informal. The South-West Africa Committee never functioned separately in any effective way, nor did the Finance Sub-Committee set up on 18 Jul 1973. The Research Committee did not meet independently of the Steering Committee and was supplemented from the outset by Research Consultants on both sides of the Atlantic. At the Governors' meeting of 29-30 Sep 1972, both the Steering and the Research Committees were abolished and a new London-based Executive Committee substituted, whose papers were to be circulated to the Governors, giving them the opportunity to intervene at will. The Research Consultants remained, with Paul Streeten playing a leading role. This structure was retained until the end of the project, with some changes in membership over the years.

The Governors were:

  1. Robert Rhodes James (Sussex), Chairman
  2. Sir Bernard de Bunsen, Vice-Chairman
  3. Dean Robert Good (Denver). Alternate F. Dutton
  4. Professor Carl Widstrand (Uppsala). Alternate Åke Magnusson
  5. Professor Franz Ansprenger (Berlin). Alternate Leonard Harding
  6. Jane Symonds (Africa Publications Trust)
  7. W.H. Ferry (D.J.B. Foundation) until Sep 1973
  8. Peter Parker
  9. E.J.B. Rose
  10. Professor Gwendolen Carter from 1973 [?].

The Executive Committee members were:

  1. Robert Rhodes James (Chairman)
  2. Colin Legum (Vice-Chairman)
  3. Jane Symonds
  4. Sir Bernard de Bunsen
  5. Michael Scott
  6. John Sackur
  7. Wilfrid Grenville-Grey.

The following acted as Research Consultants at various times:

  1. Paul Streeten (in England)
  2. Michael Safier (in England)
  3. Michael Faber (in England)
  4. Robert Molten (in England)
  5. Robin Murray (in England)
  6. Sean Gervasi (in England)
  7. Dr E.F. Schumacher (in England)
  8. Dr C. Elliott (in England)
  9. Stanley Trepido (in England)
  10. Mrs Myrtle Berman (in England)
  11. Christopher Hill (in England)
  12. Donald McHenry (in America, from Sep 1973 American Secretary of the project)
  13. George Shepherd (in America)
  14. Tim Smith (in America).

The Sep 1972 Governors' meeting also saw the resignation of Wilfrid Grenville-Grey as Executive Secretary of the project from Nov. Charles Harvey was also due to leave at the end of the year. It was decided that they would be replaced by a Project Director and, in Jan 1973, Neil Hepburn was appointed to the post, with Kitty Lloyd-Lawrence becoming Executive Secretary in Feb. In Jul 1973, Joanna Morris became Research Officer, working four days a week, and secretarial staff were also retained. The work of commissioning research papers went ahead, but by the spring of 1974 the funds raised had been exhausted and all the staff, except Neil Hepburn, were given notice. Neil continued to work from his home in an editorial capacity until Nov 1974, but what became the primary work of the project, the publication in book form of the research papers that had been intended to lay the ground work for the international conference, passed into the hands of Colin Legum and Jane Symonds, in collaboration with the American and Swedish sponsors, with much of the cost being borne by the latter. Between the late summer of 1974 and the autumn of 1975, five volumes of Study Project Papers and two Supplementary Papers had been published, constituting the most solid of the Bureau's attempts to educate public opinion. However, the seminars for businessmen and the international conference remained an unfulfilled ambition.

Papers of the organisers, sponsors, and advisors of the project: MSS. Afr. s. 1681/121-123. The main story of the project is told in the files of circulated papers, in MSS. Afr. s. 1681/121-123, folder 3. Since full meetings of all the people engaged in the project were infrequent, correspondence between them was photocopied and circulated, such that it has been necessary to incorporate circulated correspondence and memoranda with committee papers and to arrange all such papers in chronological order, disregarding the titular transformation of the groups involved. After Apr 1974, the structure of the project collapsed and its offices were closed. From then on, virtually all papers concerning organisation are included in MSS. Afr. s. 1681/123, folders 2 and 3. Additional material on the origins and organisation of the project can be found in the Africa Publications Trust's minutes, MSS. Afr. s. 1712/1, folders 2-6.

Consultation with Business Committee: MSS. Afr. s. 1681/123, folder 4. The only sub-committee to have a distinct life was the English 'Consultation with Business Committee', (if the American equivalent was ever active, it has left no traces), of which Peter Parker was Chairman. Between May 1972 and May 1973, he wrote a number of letters to representatives of British firms seeking their collaboration with the project. This activity ceased, however, with the establishment of the Rodgers Committee (see below), when British firms became absorbed in preparing their submissions. The papers of this committee have been filed immediately after those of the main organising body.

Sponsors: MSS. Afr. s. 1681/123, folders 5-9. A number of bodies were approached in the search for sponsors for the project and MSS. Afr. s. 1681/123, folder 5 contains correspondence with those who refused to act in such a capacity. Folders 6-9 contain letters exchanged between the Bureau or project and bodies acting as sponsors that were not generally circulated. After the collapse of the project in 1974, all correspondence is filed together in MSS. Afr. s. 1681/123, folders 2 and 3.

Consultants: MSS. Afr. s. 1681/123, folder 10. Only correspondence with individuals who declined to act as consultants to the project is filed here; correspondence with those who offered their help will be found in the files of circulated papers and scattered through the research sections.

Financial papers: MSS. Afr. s. 1681/124-127. Funds for the project came exclusively from charitable foundations and the first box in this sub-section, MSS. Afr. s. 1681/124, is made up of papers relating to applications for grants, arranged alphabetically by foundation. This is not a complete record of the project's fundraising, since the overseas sponsors also raised money in a similar manner. There follows a ledger and two boxes of administrative financial papers, 125-127, which show the way in which the funds raised were handled and spent.

Administrative papers: MSS. Afr. s. 1681/128-129. The papers in MSS. Afr. s. 1681/128 concern the appointment and employment of the project's staff. They are followed by a box of working papers on administrative matters.

House of Commons Expenditure Committee: Trade and Industry Sub-Committee on Wages and Conditions of African Workers Employed by British Firms in South Africa. The Rodgers Committee, MSS. Afr. s. 1681/130. This committee was set up in Apr 1973 under the chairpersonship of W.T. Rodgers, in the wake of articles in the Guardian by Adam Raphael and coverage in other newspapers. The report of the committee and evidence submitted to it was published in Mar 1974. In a sense, it undercut the work of the project at the same time as it afforded the first opportunity to use research carried out by the project to influence public opinion. Neil Hepburn made an early offer to brief William Rodgers on the difficulties ahead of him, which seems to have been accepted, and Charles Harvey gave both oral and written evidence to the Committee, which was later published. However, business firms became much less disposed to collaborate with the project, as they were not only compelled to prepare evidence for the Rodgers Committee, but also subsequently required to submit annual reports to their shareholders on the working conditions of their African employees. The papers in this sub-section include correspondence with and about the Committee, drafts of Charles Harvey's evidence, and copies of memoranda of other submissions.

Papers concerning the amassing of information and suggestions of possible authors: MSS. Afr. s. 1681/131-132. The files in this sub-section fall roughly into two divisions. First comes the working files kept by those involved with the project, MSS. Afr. s. 1681/131, folders 1-7. These are followed by a series of files, bearing titles and a code number and letter allotted by the project, containing correspondence with a wide variety of organisations and individuals from whom information or cooperation was sought: MSS. Afr. s. 1681/131, folder 8 - MSS. Afr. s. 1681/132, folder 10.

Research materials: MSS. Afr. s. 1681/133-134. These boxes concern materials needed or acquired for research by the project.

Study Project Papers, MSS. Afr. s. 1681/135-145:

All the research commissioned by the project was intended to produce Study Project Papers (abbreviated to SPPs). In different research designs and checklists, papers are coded, numbered, and renumbered again and again. The numbers adopted for the purpose of arranging the files here are those used to identify the papers in the list at the back of the published volumes. These papers were not all published and their division between the volumes and the order in which they appeared is extremely confusing. For the readers' convenience, a table of the SPPs in numerical order is set out at the end of this Introduction, showing such information as it has been possible to gather about them. The published papers were collected into five volumes and two Supplementary Papers.

The bulk of editorial papers are included among the papers circulated to the supervisory members of the project, which also include circulated outlines and drafts and comments on them. Two files of editorial papers that were not generally circulated start the Study Project Papers sub-section, MSS. Afr. s. 1681/135, folders 1 and 2. They are followed by the numbered papers in sequence, including those which were never published. (The numbered but unpublished papers are SPP 3, MSS. Afr. s. 1681/138; SPP 13, MSS. Afr. s. 1681/141, folder 1; SPP 27 and 28, MSS. Afr. s. 1681/143, folders 1-3). Finally, MSS. Afr. s. 1681/145 contains unnumbered papers, none of which were published. These include both papers that the project endeavoured to produce and others submitted to it. These are arranged chronologically. In arranging the files on the Study Project, a chronological order of outline and drafts within each paper has been observed, followed by correspondence with the author and others. However, it has often been necessary to group readers' comments on a draft immediately after the draft concerned, since often notes and letters refer to matter written directly on the draft.

Publicity and Public Relations: MSS. Afr. s. 1681/146. Besides other material, this box includes the Newsletter sent out by the project in an attempt to inform and influence a wide spectrum of people and organisations. Sales of Study Project publications were handled by the Africa Publications Trust and papers concerning them are to be found intermingled with orders for other Bureau and Publications Trust literature in MSS. Afr. s. 1681/96, folder 4 et seq.

Dates

  • Creation: 1968-1977

Language of Materials

  • English

Full range of shelfmarks:

MSS. Afr. s. 1681/109-146

Volumes:

  1. The Political and Military Framework, 1975 [after Apr]
  2. The Economic Factor, 1975 [after Apr]
  3. Foreign Firms in Namibia, 1974 [Sep?]
  4. The Conditions of the Black Worker, 1975 [Sep?]
  5. The Policy Debate, with an overview by Robert Rhodes James, 1975 [Oct or Nov].
General
  1. Swedish Investment in South Africa (see SPP 1 below), 1975 [after Apr]
  2. Foreign Firms in Namibia, 1974 [Aug?]
  3. US Firms in South Africa (see SPP 31 below), 1975 [Apr].
General
  1. Swedish Investments in South Africa, Åke Magnusson. Published as Report No. 23 of the Scandinavian Institute of African Studies. A Project Supplementary Paper, 1974 [Aug?]
  2. Foreign Firms in Namibia, Roger Murray, Jo Morris, John Dugard, Neville Rubin. Vol. III, 1974 [Sep?]
  3. British Firms in South Africa, Robert Davies. Not published. Listed as a Supplementary Paper
  4. The Political and Military Framework, J.E. Spence. Entire Vol. I, 1975 [after Apr]
  5. The Nature and Role of Foreign investment in South Africa, John Suckling. In Vol. II, 1975 [after Apr]
  6. The Role of Foreign Loans in South Africa's Economic Growth, Ruth Weiss. In Vol. II, 1975 [after Apr]
  7. The Role of Para-Statals in South Africa's Politico-Economic System, Ruth Weiss. In Vol. II, 1975 [after Apr]
  8. South Africa and its Hinterland, Ruth Weiss. In Vol. II, 1975 [after Apr]
  9. The Role of Foreign Trade and Industrial Development in South Africa, Duncan Innes. In Vol. II, 1975 [after Apr]
  10. The Structure of the South African Economy and the Nature of its Ties with the International Economy, W.H., Thomas. In Vol. IV, 1975 [Sep?]
  11. Current Labour Utilisation and Underemployment in South Africa, Johann Mares. In Vol. IV, 1975 [Sep?]
  12. The Policy of Industrial Decentralisation in South Africa, W. Beinart. In Vol. IV, 1975 [Sep?]
  13. Industrial Relations and Social Change in South Africa, not published or listed
  14. Constraints on Black Workers and White Employers in South Africa, Benjamin Pogrund. In Vol. IV, 1975 [Sep?]
  15. The Economics of Withdrawal, Charles Harvey. In Vol. V, 1975 [Oct/Nov]
  16. Disengagement as a Tactic in the Liberation of Southern Africa, Immanuel Wallerstein. In Vol. V, 1975 [Oct/Nov]
  17. The Case for Economic, Political and Military Disengagement from South Africa, edited by C. Legum. In Vol. V, 1975 [Oct/Nov]
  18. Polaroid's Experiment in Disengagement from South Africa, Alan Booth. In Vol. V, 1975 [Oct/Nov]
  19. The Case for Foreign Firms Investing in the South African Homelands, Richard Blausten. In Vol. V, 1975 [Oct/Nov]
  20. The Case against Foreign Firms Investing in the South Africa Homelands, Jonathan Steele. In Vol. V, 1975 [Oct/Nov]
  21. The Moral Case for Disengagement from South Africa, C. Legum. In Vol. V, 1975 [Oct/Nov]
  22. South Africa's Rural Black Population (1), J. Moolman, P. Smit. In Vol. IV, 1975 [Sep?]
  23. South Africa's Rural Black Population (2), Elizabeth Carter, Anthony Barker. In Vol. IV, 1975 [Sep?]
  24. A Black South African's View of the Present Urban, Rural and Industrial Situation in the Republic, A Banned Leader of the S.A. Students Organisation. In Vol. IV, 1975 [Sep?]
  25. Soweto, Constance Ntshona. In Vol. IV, 1975 [Sep?]
  26. The Case for Constructive Engagement: The Justification for Black Workers' Participation in the Policy Making, L. Douews Dekker. In Vol. V, 1975 [Oct/Nov]
  27. The Role of Switzerland's Investment in South Africa, not published or listed,
  28. Swiss, Iranian and French Investment in South Africa, not published. Listed as a Supplementary Paper
  29. The Argument that Economic Growth will produce Fundamental Change - The Oppenheimer Thesis, Wilfrid Grenville-Grey. In Vol. V, 1975 [Oct/Nov]
  30. The Debate about Growth, Leo Katzen. In Vol. V, 1975 [Oct/Nov]
  31. The Disengagement Strategy, Thomas Karis. In Vol. V, 1975 [Oct/Nov]
  32. US Firms in South Africa, Donald McHenry. Supplementary Paper published on behalf of the Africa Publications Trust by the African Studies Program, Indiana University, 1975 [Apr?].

Additional Description

Bibliography

Publications of the Study Project on External Investment in South Africa and South-West Africa (Namibia):
Supplementary Papers:
Study Project Papers in Numerical Order:

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