University of South Florida Scholar Commons Anthropology Faculty Publications Anthropology Fall 1963 The African Mineral Industry: Evolution of a Supranational Level of Integration Alvin W. Wolfe Washington University, St. Louis, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/ant_facpub Part of the Anthropology Commons Scholar Commons Citation Wolfe, Alvin W., "The African Mineral Industry: Evolution of a Supranational Level of Integration" (1963). Anthropology Faculty Publications. 5. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/ant_facpub/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Anthropology Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. rI .*O)t1: ~(\C.la.1 ff'Qblc:M..S) f'JI 9"' 3 THE AFRICAN MINERAL INDUSTRY: EVOLUTION OF A SUPRANATIONAL LEVEL OF INTEGRATION ALVIN W. WOLFE Washington University The need for some sort of human over Africa was fairly halted for a organization at a level of integration time at the point where minerals be- superior to the war-prone nation-state come important, I found the mineral has stimulated rational attempts to in- extraction industry of southern Africa vent structUres intended to reduce in- to be organized in an intricate social ternational conflict. These inventions, system based more on overlapping such as the League of Nations and the membership of a variety of groups United Nations, tend tO use the very than on a bureaucratic centralization units that are in contention, nation- of administrative power. The network states, and the same principles of or- binds groups that are different both ganization, centralized power in a bu- structurally and functionally, some reaucratic framework, that characterize business corporations, some states, the nation-state. The long history of some families, in a modern suprana- development of human social systems tional structure that is more than just suggests, however, that development international. The ties among these from one "level of sociocultUral inte- entities are such that the boundaries gration," to use the concept of Julian of the system are ambiguous. Though Steward,l to a new, wider level in- operating in a complex modern world, volves the emergence qf genuinely dif- the structure of this system appears to ferent principles which yield qualita- the anthropologist analgous to "acepha- tively different groups at the higher lous'. segmentary social systems. An level. A tribe is not a federation of even better comparison might be with families; a nation is not a federation such smaller societies as those of abo- of tribes; neither is it likely that man's riginal Australia where networks of present problem will be solved by a overlapping family, horde, and totemic federation of states. It may be that the groups provide a high degree of order current decadesof enormous upheaval, without centralized control. of crumbling political empires, of Before proceeding, I should register rapid social change and" population some reservations. A system such as growth, and of acceleration of indus- this is difficult to describe briefly. This trialization, will give rise tO some new preliminary report, based on incom- system of social control somewhat in- plete data on a system that is dynamic, dependent of the currently troublesome continuously adapting to changing units, the nation-states. The present conditions, attempts only to point out paper does not purport to describe a a few salient features which appear utopian system for establishing world important for the future development peace. It merely calls attention to a de- of this system, and to point out some veloping system with some character- of those changing conditions tO which istics that might make effective an in- this system seems adaptable. ternational, supranational, integrative SOME PA1TERNSOF INTEGRAnON system. In pursuing answers to quite anoth- IN THE MINING INDUSTRY er question, namely, why the "wind of The several hundred mining com- change" expected to sweep southward panies operating in southern Africa are integrated through a series of re- 1 Julian Steward, Theory of Culture lationships that focus on some of the Change. Urbana: University of Illinois larger among them-this system I have Press, 1955. elsewhere called the Cape-to-Katanga f~(;." " So C.I "'l PRo BL E M.s fa II 1?,3 154 SOCIAL PROBLEMS Miners.2 Then, in a variety of ways, exploitation of all the mineral re- these corporations are linked with gov- sourcesof southern Africa. These "key" ernmentS. companies are: Union Miniere du The most direct connections are Haut Katanga, Tanganyika Conces- those of parent companies to wholly- sions, British South Africa Company, owned subsidiaries. Thus The Anglo Anglo American Corporation of South American Corporation of South Africa Africa, De Beers Consolidated Mines, is sole parent to Lydenburg Estates, Johannesburg Consolidated Investment New Era Consolidated, South African Company, R h o k a n a Corporation, Mines Selection, Anglo American Rho- Mufulira Copper Mines, and Rhode- desian Services, and Anmercosa Land sian Selection Trust. ( See Chart 1.) and Estates.3 Johannesburg Consoli- Eighty-eight men occupy the 130 di- dated Investment Company is parent rectOrships; still closer to the hub, six to African Asbestos-Cement Corpora- men occupy twenty-tWo seats.Analysis tion, Barnato Brothers, Barnato Hold- of the relationships of these, and many ings, and others. Such relationship sys- other related corporations, suggeststhat tems based on complete ownership are, the interlocking may follow a regular of course, limited in scale in the same pattern: roughly, the units which are way as kinship groups based on filia- most similar in function and therefore tion alone are limited. most prone to compete have the high- The relationships that give this sys- est degree of interlocking. Those that tem much wider span involve the shar- are functionally disparate can rely more ing of interest in operating firms. Just on the market principle in their rela- as marriages in many social systems tions, while the similar companies must establish affinal ties between two other- create the conditions for cooperation wise separate, perhaps opposing, line- on the basis of reciprocity. Thus, Rho- ages, common financial interests estab- kana and Rhodesian Selection Trust lish a network of relations between are alike in their emphasis on mining otherwise distinct corporations. This copper in the Copperbelt, but they network is partially expressedin inter- avoid the temptation to compete by locking directorates, for any business interlocking heavily through a third group attempts to have its own repre- company, Mufulira Copper Mines, sentatives on the board of directors of whose sixteen man board is nearly another company in which it holds filled by nine directors of Rhodesian stock or has some other direct interest. Selection Trust and six directors of The extent to which this principle Rhokana. On the other hand, the Brit- operates can be readily observed from ish South Africa Company, whose the lists of directors of nine companies place in the system is functionally chosen as key companies from among unique in that it does not operate the several hundred for which such in- mines but "owns" the mineral resources formation is available because they, over vast parts of the territory includ- with their subsidiaries and associated ing the Copperbelt, needs only three firms, can be seen as dominating the joint directors with Anglo American Corporation of South Africa and only one with Tanganyika Concessions. It 2 Alvin W. Wolfe, "The Team Rules may, however, be significant that the Mining in Southern Africa," Toward Free- dom, January, 1962. three of them-BSA, Anglo-American, 3 Unless other references are ,given, all and T.C.-together own the Rhodesian p.trticulars on companies are taken from Iron and Steel Corporation ( RISCO ) ( 1) tllining Year Book, London: Walter of Southern Rhodesia. Tanganyika E. Skinner; (2) Moody's Banking and Fi- nance Manual; (3) Moody's Industrials Concessions, itself, has another func- Manual; or (4) Poor's Register, tionally distinct position in that it D~ > . ...> ~ ~" ., " 6--c ~ ~ .c -~ N 01 :: O C " "U ~ > 01 O " ~ D .. -" ~ .~ x u " D .a ~ C " ~ 0. 0- ~D.. 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