Developmentalism, Dependency, and the State

Why does Namibia’s economy look the way it does today? Was the
reliance on raw materials for exports and on the service sector for
employment an inevitability? And for what reasons has the manufacturing
sector – the vehicle for economic development for many now-high income
countries throughout the 19th and 20th centuries – seen its growth held
back?

With these questions in mind, this book offers an extensive
analysis of industrial development and economic change in Namibia since
1900, exploring their causes, trajectory, vicissitudes, context, and
politics. Its focus is particularly on the motivations behind the
economic decisions of the state, arguing that power relations – both
internationally and domestically – have held firm a status quo that has
resisted efforts towards profound economic change. This work is the
first in-depth economic study covering both the colonial and
independence eras of Namibia’s history and provides the first history of
the country’s manufacturing sector.