CRITICAL GEOPOLITICS OF FOREIGN INVOLVEMENT IN NAMIBIA: A MIXED METHODS APPROACH by MEREDITH JOY DEBOOM B.A., University of Iowa, 2009 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Masters of Arts Department of Geography 2013 This thesis entitled: Critical Geopolitics of Foreign Involvement in Namibia: A Mixed Methods Approach written by Meredith Joy DeBoom has been approved for the Department of Geography John O’Loughlin, Chair Joe Bryan, Committee Member Date The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. iii Abstract DeBoom, Meredith Joy (M.A., Geography) Critical Geopolitics of Foreign Involvement in Namibia: A Mixed Methods Approach Thesis directed by Professor John O’Loughlin In May 2011, Namibia’s Minister of Mines and Energy issued a controversial new policy requiring that all future extraction licenses for “strategic” minerals be issued only to state-owned companies. The public debate over this policy reflects rising concerns in southern Africa over who should benefit from globally-significant resources. The goal of this thesis is to apply a critical geopolitics approach to create space for the consideration of Namibian perspectives on this topic, rather than relying on Western geopolitical and political discourses. Using a mixed methods approach, I analyze Namibians’ opinions on foreign involvement, particularly involvement in natural resource extraction, from three sources: China, South Africa, and the United States. First, through textual analysis of media sources, including editorials, letters to the editor, and SMSes, I examine the divergent portrayals of specific foreign investment actors. Second, through an analysis of Afrobarometer survey data, I identify the socioeconomic, demographic, and political factors that best predict Namibians’ perceptions of Chinese, South African, and American involvement. The findings of these two approaches provide details on two key aspects of foreign investment in Namibia: first, the ways in which the oft-cited discursive battle of “resource-grabbing” versus “investment opportunity” obscures the diversity of ways in which foreign investment is framed by Namibians, and second, the critical geopolitics, based on public opinion, that have singled out China in discussions of foreign investment in Africa, even in places like Namibia where it is far from the largest actor. iv Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the inspiration, challenge, and encouragement of countless Namibian colleagues and friends. While I cannot name most of them here, I do want to give special thanks to Buti, who first encouraged my interest in the politics of foreign investment in Namibia. I have also benefitted significantly from the encouragement of a collection of truly outstanding academic mentors. At the University of Colorado-Boulder, I cannot thank John O’Loughlin, my advisor, enough for his thoughtful comments on countless drafts and his unflagging support throughout the writing process. Throughout my graduate education, Dr. O’Loughlin has always challenged me to do my best work. My committee members, Joe Bryan and Mara Goldman, offered invaluable feedback, support, and insight throughout the writing process, for which I am most grateful. At the University of Iowa, I must thank John Conybeare and Andy Willard, who gave me my first taste of independent research by supervising my undergraduate honors theses in Political Science and International Studies, respectively. I would also like to thank Tom Rice and Bob Kirby, my mentors at the University of Iowa who demonstrated the value of academic work in creating social change through their own outstanding scholarship. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their encouragement, support, and patience during this process. I would especially like to thank my parents, Kermit and Pam De Boom. As the first person in my family to graduate from college, I had some doubts on my way to earning an M.A. They never did. Mom and Dad, this one’s for you. v Table of Contents List of Tables……………………………………………………………………..…………….vii List of Figures……………………………………………………………….…………….…..viii List of Abbreviations……………………………………………………...…………………....ix Chapter 1: Situating the Research Project: Resources, Development, and China……..……1 1.1.Introduction 1.2.Foreign Investment in Africa: Africa(ns) Rising? 1.3.Foreign Investment in Namibia 1.4.Approaches and Methods 1.5.Limitations of the Research Project 1.6.Chapter Layout Chapter 2: Resource Politics and Geopolitics in Sub-Saharan Africa: Boom or Curse, and for Whom?…………………………………………………………………………18 2.1.Examining the Resource “Curse”: Economics, Politics, and Development 2.2.Environmental Determinism? Geographic Critiques of the Resource “Curse” and its Connection with Broader Socio-Politico-Economic Processes 2.3.Foreign Involvement in Resource Extraction 2.4.Final Thoughts: Substantial Gaps in the Literature Chapter 3: The Historical Political Economy of Resource Extraction and Foreign Involvement in Namibia………………………………………………………………………..40 3.1.Introduction 3.2.Early History: Pre-Colonization to German and South African Colonialism 3.3.The Political Economy of Independent Namibia 3.4. Extraction in the Post-Independence Namibian Political Economy 3.5. Extraction Projects, Actors, and Affiliations 3.6. Contemporary Debates over Resource Law 3.7.Conclusions Chapter 4: Resource-Based Development? Media Portrayals of Foreign Involvement and the Namibian State…………………………………………………………75 4.1.Framework and Methods 4.2.The Namibian Media and Data Sources 4.3.Portrayals of Foreign Investment in Resource Extraction 4.4.Criticism of the GRN’s Management of Namibian Natural Resources 4.5.Conclusions Chapter 5: Namibian Resources for Namibians? A Critical Geopolitics Analysis of Portrayals of Foreign Involvement in the Namibian Media………………………………..104 5.1. Portrayals of China 5.2. Portrayals of South Africa 5.3.Portrayals of the United States 5.4.Conclusions vi Chapter 6: A Quantitative Analysis of Namibians’ Opinions on Foreign Investment……142 6.1.Importance of a Country-Wide Approach 6.2.Data Source 6.3.Demographic Summary Statistics 6.4.Overall Opinions of Foreign Involvement 6.5.Summary Statistics for Non-Demographic Independent and Control Variables 6.6.Cross Tabulations 6.7.Logistic Regression Analysis 6.8.Conclusions Chapter 7: The View From Namibia: Conclusions and Future Directions……………….166 7.1. Significance of a Critical Geopolitics of Foreign Involvement from the Global South 7.2. What Do Namibians Really Think? Media Portrayals versus Public Opinion on China 7.3. The Resource Extraction-Foreign Involvement Connection 7.4. The State, Development, and Foreign Involvement 7.5. Future Research Directions Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………………176 Appendices……………………………………………………………………………………..190 Appendix 1: Minster of Mines and Energy Katali’s Announcement of the 2011 Strategic Minerals Policy Appendix 2: Demographic and Political Data (Namibia Afrobarometer 2008) Appendix 3: Afrobarometer Independent and Control Variable Questions vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1.3.1 Data on Interviewees in Namibia………………………...………………………....…...16 3.3.1 Namibia’s Population by Ethnic Group (1989)………………………………………….47 3.3.2 2009 Legislative Election Results……………………………………………….….…....53 3.4.1 Namibian Employment by Sector (2012)………………………………………………..62 3.5.1 Partial List of Mining and Drilling Companies Active in Namibia (2012).………......…65 4.3.1 Examples of Negative Portrayals of Foreign Involvement……………………………....97 4.3.2 Examples of Positive Portrayals of Foreign Involvement…………………………….....99 4.4.1 Portrayals of the GRN’s Management of Namibian Resources……………………..…101 5.1.1 Percentage Breakdown of Portrayals by Country……………………………………....105 5.2.1 Percentage Breakdown of Negative Portrayals of China by Theme……………………108 5.2.2 Examples: Portrayals of China as Low Quality, Exploitative, and/or Unwelcome…….110 5.2.3 Examples: Portrayals of Chia as Corrupt, Undemocratic, or Immoral….……………...113 5.2.4 Examples: Portrayals of China as Resource-Hungry…………………………………...116 5.2.5 Examples: Portrayals of China as Colonial/Imperial…………………………………...118 5.2.6 Examples: Portrayals of China as Invasion………………………………………….....120 5.2.7 Examples: Portrayals of China as Partnership and/or South-South Solidarity.………...124 5.2.8 Examples: Support for China in the Media by Political Officials……………………...126 5.2.9 Examples: Portrayals of Chinese Involvement as Strengthening the Namibian Economy/Namibia’s Position in the Global Economic System………………………..128 5.3.1 Percentage Breakdown of Negative Portrayals of South Africa by Theme…………….131 5.3.2 Examples: Negative Portrayals of South Africa………………………………………..132 5.3.3 Examples: Positive Portrayals of South Africa……………………...…………………134 5.4.1 Examples: Negative Portrayals of the U.S……………………………………………...137 5.4.2 Examples: Positive Portrayals of the U.S………………………………………………139 6.4.1 Namibian Opinions of Foreign Involvement …………………………………………..147 6.5.1 Non-Demographic Control and Independent Variables……………………………......149 6.6.1 Cross Tabulation of Namibians’ Opinions of Foreign Involvement and News Readership…………………………………………….…………………………..152 6.6.2 Cross Tabulation of Namibians’ Opinions of Foreign Involvement and Perception of National Assembly Corruption………………………………...………..153