Stefan Schirmer and I recently co-authored a note that will be published in the next issue of Economic History of Developing Regions. We argue that, while significant South African economic history research has been undertaken since the 1990s, South African historians and economists are still fighting a methodological Cold War. This is, of course, in no way unique to South Africa, but since the beginning of the twenty-first century much progress has been made internationally (on both sides of the divide) to overcome this stalemate. We propose that South African historians need to familiarize themselves with quantitative techniques and that South African economists need to gain a deeper insight into the way historians conduct research. Ultimately, methodological tolerance is also needed if historians and economists with different strengths and orientations are to work together and to learn from one another. All methodologies ultimately have strengths and weaknesses; no methodology is better suited to reveal ‘the truth’ than another. As Andrew Rutten (1980) put it many years ago, 'Science does not have any single goal or method. Science demands that economic historians develop whatever tools are needed to solve the problems they face'.
Bridging the methodological divide
Bridging the methodological divide
Bridging the methodological divide
Stefan Schirmer and I recently co-authored a note that will be published in the next issue of Economic History of Developing Regions. We argue that, while significant South African economic history research has been undertaken since the 1990s, South African historians and economists are still fighting a methodological Cold War. This is, of course, in no way unique to South Africa, but since the beginning of the twenty-first century much progress has been made internationally (on both sides of the divide) to overcome this stalemate. We propose that South African historians need to familiarize themselves with quantitative techniques and that South African economists need to gain a deeper insight into the way historians conduct research. Ultimately, methodological tolerance is also needed if historians and economists with different strengths and orientations are to work together and to learn from one another. All methodologies ultimately have strengths and weaknesses; no methodology is better suited to reveal ‘the truth’ than another. As Andrew Rutten (1980) put it many years ago, 'Science does not have any single goal or method. Science demands that economic historians develop whatever tools are needed to solve the problems they face'.