The dissertation employs insights from critical race theory and the environmental justice
literature, questioning the sustainability of dominant state policies concerning
development of informal settlements.
The work explores spatialized and racialised forms of class and their normalisation in
South Africa. Discussion of the rise and redefinition of urban segregation in South Africa
notes racialised exclusions have not disappeared with the end of apartheid. Economic
supremacy of ‘white’ populations reproduces ‘white’ control – with dirt, crime and
disorder constitutive of the pathological spaces of the ‘other’.
Second part examines the role of environmental ideas in reproducing ‘white’ spaces of
privilege and ‘black’ spaces of degradation. Discussing neo-liberal development,
sustainable development and ecological justice in South Africa – the dissertation shows
service delivery and housing policy to possess similarities to apartheid projects – with
weaknesses of the dominant model failing the requirements of environmental justice.
The case study which follows examines a contemporary attempt to relocate an informal
settlement sited in an affluent neighbourhood through ‘greenfields’ housing development,
revealing environments as contested, with spatial subjugation dramatic and ongoing.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/4595 |
| Date | 07 March 2008 |
| Creators | Brett, James |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 5295103 bytes, 10109 bytes, 14666 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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