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Postcolonial Transitions in Africa: Decolonization in West Africa and Present Day South Africa

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  • Stephanie Decker

Abstract

Black Economic Empowerment is a highly debated issue in contemporary South Africa. Yet few South Africans realize that they are following a postcolonial trajectory already experienced by other countries. This paper presents a case study of British firms during decolonization in Ghana and Nigeria in the 1950s and 1960s, which saw a parallel development in business and society to that which occurred in South Africa in the 1990s and 2000s. Despite fundamental differences between these states, all have had to empower a majority of black citizens who had previously suffered discrimination on the basis of race. The paper employs concepts from social capital theory to show that the process of postcolonial transition in African economies has been more politically and socially disruptive than empowerment in Western countries. Historical research contributes to our understanding of the nature of institutional shocks in emerging economies.

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  • Stephanie Decker, 2010. "Postcolonial Transitions in Africa: Decolonization in West Africa and Present Day South Africa," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(5), pages 791-813, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:47:y:2010:i:5:p:791-813
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2010.00924.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Decker, Stephanie & Estrin, Saul & Mickiewicz, Tomasz, 2020. "The tangled historical roots of entrepreneurial growth aspirations," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102989, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Jerven, Morten & Austin, Gareth & Green, Erik & Uche, Chibuike & Frankema, Ewout & Fourie, Johan & Inikori, Joseph & Moradi, Alexander & Hillbom, Ellen, 2012. "Moving Forward in African Economic History. Bridging the Gap Between Methods and Sources," Lund Papers in Economic History 124, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    3. Mary O'Sullivan & Margaret B. W. Graham, 2010. "Guest Editors' Introduction," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(s1), pages 775-790, July.
    4. Decker, Stephanie, 2012. "The silence of the archive: post-colonialism and the practice of historical reconstruction from archival evidence," MPRA Paper 37280, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Liou, Ru-Shiun & Rao-Nicholson, Rekha, 2017. "Out of Africa: The role of institutional distance and host-home colonial tie in South African Firms’ post-acquisition performance in developed economies," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 1184-1195.
    6. Uche, Chinyere & Khalid, Sharif, 2022. "Corporate reporting on conflict: A struggle over land," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    7. Vanessa Scholes, 2014. "You Are Not Worth the Risk: Lawful Discrimination in Hiring," Rationality, Markets and Morals, Frankfurt School Verlag, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, vol. 5(82), February.
    8. OMISORE, Segun & Ho, Manh-Toan, 2019. "Corporate Entrepreneurship, Strategy Formulation, and the Performance of the Nigerian Manufacturing Sector," Thesis Commons u39nc, Center for Open Science.
    9. Ishva Minefee & Marcelo Bucheli, 2021. "MNC responses to international NGO activist campaigns: Evidence from Royal Dutch/Shell in apartheid South Africa," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(5), pages 971-998, July.

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