Capital and Ideology in South Africa  1890—1933
The  Political  Nature of the  Ruling  Class:
Author:  Belinda Bozzoli
Published by Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1981 
Price:  Approx R29.85 
384pp 

Represented in South Africa
by MacMillan

Reviewed by Ruth Tomaselli

Belinda  Bozzoli's book is not primarily about media.  It sets out "to explore
the bourgeoisie ... in all  its various manifestations in that complex society
which is South Africa" (p. 3 ).  This extensive and lucid study spans the years
1890-1933, years which, as she points out, are particularly rich in insights
into the nature of the ruling class as a whole, its experience of class forma-
tion, and relation between class and the emergence of the state.

Bozzoli  identifies three sectors of the bourgeoisie, representing mining,
commercial  and manufacturing.  The distinction between  'imperial' and
'national' capital  cuts across these sectors.  Initially hegemonic, 'imperial'
capital  comprised mining, merchant, British-based manufacturing and agricul-
tural  capital.  In the final  phases of the period under consideration, it
is 'national' capital, the 'new bourgeoisie' which is ascendant, and which
is by then made up of industrialists, traders, certain mining companies and
farmers  (p. 171).  The differences, and interrelations, between these various
divisions within the ruling class are as important for an understanding of
the bourgeoisie as a whole as an holistic view is for the understanding of
particular sectors.

The book sets out to uncover the twin processes of 'class formation', whereby
a group of people evolve economic, ideological and political  relationships,
both within their own group and outside it;  and 'interest-translation', the
way in which this class (in this case capitalists) bridged  the gap between
their abstract economic needs, and the social  implications arising  therefrom.
In unravelling these processes, Bozzoli explores, with a thoroughness not
encountered in other historical  studies of the South African media, the
journals, speeches, reports, minutes and petitions in which the bourgeoisie,
or more often, those employed to articulate capitalist  interests, "expressed
their views about their place in the evolving social  system at crucial
stages in South African history..."  (p. 9 ).

Journals such as the South African Mining Journal, the South African Commercial
Bulletin and the South African Commerce and Manufacturers Record, worked in
turn to create, articulate and maintain the ideologies and self awareness of
the particular sectors of capital  they served.  For students of the media,
this is where the  primary focus of the book's interest  lies.

This review of the book will  therefore concentrate on Bozzoli's use of the
media to uncover the historical  processes she analyses.  These sources enable
her to provide a rich and fascinating account of the development of South
Africa's ruling class, and particularly, of its self awareness and ideological
presence.

Central to an understanding of both class formation and interest-translation,

is the Gramscian concept of the  'organic intellectual'.  Gramsci  notes that
every "new class" creates  intellectuals  "alongside  itself", and  elaborates
them in the course of its own development  (1).  These  intellectuals are
'organic' in the sense that they identify completely with the class, or sub-
class, whose interests they express.  All sections of the bourgeoisie  in the
period of Bozzoli's study employed men in the capacities of journalists,
speech makers and writers  to undertake the ideological  labour of capital.
Most of their efforts were directed back to the class which had  spawned
them,  defining and clarifying the bourgeoisie's own position and  standpoints
to themselves - bridging  the "gap between economic  interests and  political  and
ideological  realities" (p. 10).  Organic  intellectuals had a dual  function:
to create ideologies 
and  to provide strategies by which  to implement the
more abstract  ideas.  The former happened only at particular, crucial  periods
during which capital, (or a section thereof) was under stress, not only econo-
mically, but socially.  At these critical  junctures, the ruling  class needed
to "embed themselves firmly  in the social  formation  itself"  (p.11) - a task
which required the formulation of a specific sense of  identity on their part.
In addition, the bourgeoisie needed a workable policy, and guidelines on how
to put these into practice.  These guidelines were provided  in the pages of
the specialist journals circulating  among the bourgeoisie  itself.

The different functions of these media at different  periods  reflected  the status
of the sector they served and their relative position  vis-a-vis ofher  sectors
of capital.  In the early period of mining hegemony, for  instance, the mining
media

reveal a profound concern with fundamental  social  and  political
issues, ranging from the destruction of pre-capitalist  black  family
structures, to the overthrow of the Kruger regime;  from the ad-
vocacy of the importation of tens of thousands of Chinese labourers,
to the manipulation of white working class employment  patterns and
expressions of resistance  (p. 9)

In parallel with these concerns was the creation of a racist and  imperial  ideo-
logy which related to the broader needs of the bourgeoisie as a whole.  By the
1920s, however, these same journals appeared  "quite barren by contrast"  (p. 9 ).
Devoid of social content, they simply regurgitated  previously  formulated
ideological themes.

Bozzoli's analysis of the media serving the commercial  sectors  is of particular
interest, since this sector of capital  is commonly neglected  by the various
'factionalist' accounts of the South African political  economy.  The disad-
vantaged position of commerce in relation to other sectors of capital  is
clearly indicated by the lack of any specific media  to serve it before the
1920s.  Before this time, annual  reports and other public documents are de-
viod of far-reaching  sociological  input, in contrast to the contemporary  media
of manufacturing and mining.  The chief organ of the commercial  bourgeoisie
was the Commercial  Bulletin, established  in 1921, together with  the speeches
and annual  reports of Assocom  (p. 167).

Both the mining and the manufacturing media  tended  to be entirely  inward  looking.
They circulated among  'their' sectors of the bourgeoisie only, and outlined  a
world view for their class audience.  The commercial  media, on the other hand,
adopted a broader approach, and  included  the state and  'the public' under  its
aegis.  The latter media were clearly used for the spreading as well  as the
creating of views and opinions.  These were often of a highly  innovative  kind,
especially during the interwar years.  They advocated  a strongly  'South African-
ist' ideology, which was highly critical  of any suggestion of  protectionism.
This outlook reflected  the  interest of all  the sectors comprising  'national'1
capital, as outlined  in the beginning of this review.  The Bulletin  saw this

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as a self-conscious  aim:

One of the primary functions of this journal  is to reflect as
accurately as possible commercial  opinion on all  subjects directly  or
indirectly connected  not only with  trade, but also with all  that con-
cerns the economic  progress and development  of the country generally  ...
(Bulletin, Feb. 1932, quoted  on p. 168).

The external  orientation of the commercial  media made  it the ideal vehicle  in
which  to articulate the needs of national  capital  which was  latterly  gaining
ascendancy.  Its main function was to create a link between  the  bourgeoisie
and the wider society.  It acted alongside  the ideological  media of manufactu-
ring - the senior partner in the thrust for  'South Africanism'  - which, at
this stage was more concerned with consolidating,  than creating, ideologies.
The "third  sphere" of the South Africanists'  ideological  effort, which  Bozzoli
considers the  "most remarkable", were the "intellectuals  of capital  emerging
in the state apparatus" (p. 170).  These men, not previously apparent  in the
creation and dissemination  of earlier phases of capitalist  ideology, assumed
as part of their creative  intellectual  function, the orchestration of intel-
lectual  efforts of the various sections of the bourgeoisie and their allies,
which were to be co-ordinated  under the hegemony of national  capital.

This  'coming together' of nationalist  capitalist  interest, and  its  identifica-
tion with the interests of the whole of the white  population, was already evi-
dent by the mid-19Z0s, and reached a peak in the 30s:

...  all  things pointed towards the need for co-opting,  conciliating
and accomodating whites of all  classes  into the industrial  revolution,
whether as voters, trade unionists, consumers, workers or  investors
(p. 205).

It was, predictably, the media of commerce which  spearheaded  the task of orien-
tating the needs of  "the people1  to those of capital.  Commercial  ideologists
set out to "create the useful  and all-embracing  concept of  'public  opinion1,
with its subsidiary concept of  "the  (white) man  in the street1"  (p. 205).
'Public opinion1  began  to reflect the sentiments of the broad base of the white
population, something which  had not previously  happened, but was still  manipu-
lated to reflect the needs and interests of capital.

The job of incorporating  the whole cross-section  of the white population  into
supporting a  'South Africanist'  industrialization  policy proved to be too  large
an undertaking  for the commercial  ideologists  to handle alone,  Bozzoli  notes
that:

It would  seem not to be coincidental,  ...  that  it was  in this period
of the rising need of the new bourgeoisie  for a  'new' public  opinion
that great changes and expansion  took place  in the field of South
African journalism and other media  (p. 207).

As has previously  been hinted, Bozzoli  does not  include an analysis of the mass
media  in her study, confining  herself to the content of the professional  media
directly related  to the bourgeoisie  itself.  However, the two pages  in which
she touches on the popular newspapers of the time, are filled with  suggestive
pointers to a more thorough-going  appraisal  of the ideological  role of'news-
papers in times of hegemonic uncertainty  (pp. 207-209).

Changes in the format and presentation of the mass media, then as now, reflected
a change in the composition  of the class-structure  of their perceived  audience.
Nor do the siraularities with the contemporary  period end here;  'political'
censorship was introduced  into South African newspapers for the first tiae in

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1926, when the Pact Government  laid down that all  political  articles and
leaders had to be signed.  Bozzoli  attributes  this  "plea for a more  'neutral'
press" to the need to broaden the appeal of the older, elitist-style  news-
papers, in order to serve the needs of the growing, lower middle and working
classes, which  increasingly made up newspapers'  readership.  At the same time,
the upsurge in consumerism, coming as it did in tandem with the increased fe-
male consuming and wage-earning  population, led to a new format for the daily
newspapers.  'Special  interest1  pages were  introduced  under the co-ordination
of a 'features bureau1, and included  such topics as motoring, property, re-
creation, and most importantly, fashion, cookery and other domestic  pursuits.
The most striking parallel with the present  situation, however, was the fact
that it was the newspaper groups themselves  that  instigated a change of policy
in order to maximize their circulations.  In a list of recommendations made to
its staff, the Argus group made numerous  suggestions, all of which  bolstered
the myth of 'neutrality' and 'objectivity'.  They  included "... the ideas
that political  news be presented without party  bias, and that comments be
strictly confined to editorial  columns  (p.208).  Company  reports  should  also
be dissociated  from the newspaper's own editorial.  In this way newspapers
pre-empted  the state's attempts to force a change of format on them, in a
similar strategy to that adopted by the printed  news media  today.

A realization of the class-base of these  ideological  tendencies  should  cause
us to pause over the present Government's  injunctions  for a more  'balanced'
and  'responsible' press.  More  importantly  perhaps, we should  look at the
process of self-adaption of mass-circulation  papers which is particularly
evident at the present time:  whether it be a response to the perceived  growth
of the  "urban black middle class', or a co-option of the business community
which makes a certain Johannesburg  morning  newspaper  (aimed  primarily at city
businessmen) find it expedient to tone down its 'radical' image.

Parallels such as these provide us with new insights  into the function and
position of the media at any particular  historical  conjuncture.  During  periods
of crises they may, or more correctly  those who write and publish them may,
actively create new ideological  configurations to come to terms with  problems
facing particular class-groupings.  During  periods of relative stability, it
might be expected that the media will  reiterate  ideological  positions pre-
viously ennunciated.  At all times, the format, circulation  and marketing
strategy of different media are valuable barometers to the state and the
status of the audiences they serve.

The challenge for students of the media is clear.  Buried in the stacks of
libraries throughout the country, long forgotten by even those for whom  they
were written, and often quite unknown to social  scientists and historians
investigating  the audiences  they served, lies a wealth of printed material.
journals, magazines and newspapers, covering  not only the professional and
occupational  interests of various groupings, but also their  social and
economic needs, how they related to other groups and to their  contemporary
situation, and in fact how they viewed  their own  positions, wait to be sifted
through.  Belinda Bozzoli has convincingly  demonstrated how critical use of
these media, when placed in a broader politico-economic  framework, can
provide fascinating glimpses  into both  the media  themselves,  and the people
they served.

Reference

Gramsci,  A.  1971:  Selections  From  Prison  Notebooks.  Lawrence  and  Wisehart,
London

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