This research considers the nature of social integration between individuals living in desegregated neighbourhoods in post-apartheid Cape Town. Social integration is understood as a dynamic process between individuals from apartheid's different racial classifications as opposed to the common emphasis in the literature on the static outcome of a neighbourhood being integrated. The research was based on both quantitative and qualitative methods. A quantitative analysis of South Africa's 2001 census results was conducted. From this analysis neighbourhoods in Cape Town with "multiple population dominance', where no single group comprises more than 50% of the suburb population and at least one other group comprises over 25%, were identified. Qualitative fieldwork (semi-structured interviews and mental maps) was conducted in two of these 'multiple population dominance' suburbs. Based on research in these neighbourhoods I conclude that labelling a suburb as physically desegregated implies a level of social cohesion that was not found, and masks the reality of division based on length of tenure and socio-economic status. Within the specific South African context of racial inequality, such opposition to desegregation that is not matched by a shared class is likely to restrict the potential for social integration to develop beyond the confines of black middle-classes moving into 'White' areas, and poor Coloureds and Black Africans living in low-cost housing, thus affecting only a handful of the population.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:424771 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Lemanski, Charlotte |
| Contributors | Lemon, Tony |
| Publisher | University of Oxford |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:cc5d83ee-d6fc-465b-a99e-f0e3de555d8f |
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