The limitations of a marxist functional explanation of apartheid

Abstract

Starting from the assumption that it is relatively fruitless to speculate on the social‐scientific adequacy of functional explanations per se, I proceed to consider the adequacy of a specific instance of functional explanation. Harold Wolpe's account of Apartheid's benefits for capitalist accumulation in South Africa is reconstructed as not only an adumbration of the nature of Apartheid, but also an explanation of the origin and/or persistence of this set of policies. By elaborating upon two sets of criticism generally levelled against functional explanations, Wolpe's account is shown to be of very limited value. Its usefulness can be improved if Wolpe rephrases his argument as a propensity‐consequence account, and identifies and explains the mechanism through which Apartheid's benefits reinforce this policy. Both courses of action, however, point towards intentional‐causal statements as the more appropriate explanatory strategy to be employed.