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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Explaining the Apartheid City: 20 Years of South African Urban Historiography
Author:Maylam, PaulISNI
Year:1995
Periodical:Journal of Southern African Studies
Volume:21
Issue:1
Period:March
Pages:19-38
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:segregation
townships
urban history
Ethnic and Race Relations
Urbanization and Migration
History and Exploration
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/2637329
Abstract:The theme of urban segregation/apartheid in South Africa has generated a considerable body of scholarly writing in the past 20 years. Much attention has been given to the process of urban segregation, as scholars have traced its origins and tried to explain the imperatives and mechanisms that governed the process. The overall picture to emerge shows urban segregation evolving over a long period of time in a rather haphazard, piecemeal way. The continuities before and after both the 1923 Natives (Urban Areas) Act and the 1950 Group Areas Act are more striking than the discontinuities. South African urban historical research has also provided a clearer understanding of such themes as housing policy, urban 'native administration' and influx control, but has generally not succeeded in elucidating the relationship between the State and the local authorities in the making of urban policy. South African urban historiography has also been influenced by the recent trend away from materialist analysis. While the abandonment of reductionism and mechanistic explanations is welcomed, this article stresses the importance of material forces in the making of urban segregation and apartheid. Note, ref., sum.
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