Ideology and South African Development Geography

Abstract

Development geography has traditionally concclfied itself with endeavouring to explain regional economic disparities in a country and seeking normative remedies for the problem of ‘uneven development’. Rarely is {he problem perceived, notably in South African geographical literature. as an historical process. or as a process which transcends national limits. or as an outcome of ideologically-based strategies. Perspectives offered by geographers on these various inter-related facets or the problem are constrained by ideology too. A call for a departure from this orthodox approach is made in this review.