ABSTRACT
Liberal states began seeking to integrate their 'indigenous' populations; a process which rights-based critics later described as 'welfare colonialism'. As the Resident Commissioner of Bechuanaland Forbes-Mackenzie declared in 1954, 'unless the Bushmen were given the opportunity of developing side by side with the rest of the indigenous inhabitants they could hardly be expected to survive for any length of time'. The San of Southern Africa are among the most intensely studied peoples in world history. Debate over nomenclature is ferocious. 'Bushmen', commonly used in and outside the West, and 'Basarwa', commonly used in Botswana, are often considered pejorative. At independence Botswana retained much of the personnel of its colonial predecessor, whilst deepening its modernist orientation. Its subsequent developmental record is famous, and has attracted interest from some of the world's best-known economists. The High Court was asked to rule upon fundamental questions of Botswana national identity that it could judicialise but by itself do little to address.
