Disinvestment and Black Workers Attitudes in South Africa: A Critical Comment

Critique of Lawrence Schlemmer’s widely cited survey, ‘Black Worker Attitudes: Political Options, Capitalism and Investment in South Africa’ (1984), which purports to show that a majority of black male production workers in South Africa are against disinvestment and, by implication, would prefer US business to pursue a strategy of constructive engagement. The critique raises central methodological questions about the inferences which can be drawn from opinion surveys and the political use to which their results can be put. It also questions conventional assumptions about the significance of disinvestment in South Africa for employment. The authors argue that the disinvestment campaign is a good deal more diverse, more complex and sophisticated than Schlemmer implies, and that his investigations into attitudes towards this issue are misleading and his conclusions worthless. Bibliogr.