Black spaces: the Group Areas Act, the material boundaries of life and grievability
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Date
2023
Authors
Goba, Nosipho Salazi
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Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
My aim in this thesis is to unpack the ways in which the Group Areas Act of 1950 and apartheid spatial planning more broadly was not only concerned with who had access to socio-economic rights but also with deciding which lives were valuable and thus grievable. The spatial expression of (post)apartheid South African life is undoubtedly racialised, gendered and classed.
The central theme of this research project is to critically engage apartheid geography through the lens of Judith Butlerโs notion of โgrievabilityโ as put forward in ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ช๐ง๐ฆ: ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ณ: ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ? as well as Giorgio Agambenโs โbare lifeโ as put forward in ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ: ๐๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ช๐จ๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ง๐ฆ to explore an understanding of spatial injustice that is informed by the (re)production of exclusionary conceptions of a normative human those falling outside of which cannot be mourned publicly. One of the main arguments in this project is that spatial justice extends beyond the geographic arrangements of the material realm into the recognition and restoration of humanity and dignity.
This thesis examines how social markers impact the ways in which certain people can navigate space and the results of not belonging in certain spaces. As a research project grounded in critical race theory, feminist theory, queer theory, class analysis and disability rights, this thesis pushes me to think about space and how we inhabit space as marginalised people in (post)apartheid South Africa. I turn to black feminist geographic thought for a grounded exploration of pathways to achieving spatial justice and conducting a critical race spatial analysis of the endurance of apartheid geography.
Description
Thesis (LL.D. (Constitutional Law and Philosophy of Law))--University of the Free State, 2023
Keywords
Group Areas Act, spatial justice, black geography, feminist geography, apartheid geography