Van Marle, K.Goba, Nosipho Salazi2024-06-112024-06-112023http://hdl.handle.net/11660/12549Thesis (LL.D. (Constitutional Law and Philosophy of Law))--University of the Free State, 2023My 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 Butler’s notion of “grievability” as put forward in 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘢𝘳: 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦? as well as Giorgio Agamben’s “bare life” as put forward in 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘰 𝘚𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘳: 𝘚𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 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.enGroup Areas Actspatial justiceblack geographyfeminist geographyapartheid geographyThesisUniversity of the Free State