Hostels, sexuality, and the apartheid legacy : malevolent geographies

Select an Action

Title:

Author:

Elder, Glen Strauch, 1967-

ISBN:

9780821414910

9780821414927

Personal Author:

Elder, Glen Strauch, 1967-

Publication Information:

Athens, OH : Ohio University Press, 2003.

Physical Description:

p. cm.

Contents:

Ch. 1. Introduction: Exorcising the Tokoloshe -- Ch. 2. Political Geographies -- Ch. 3. Apartheid Fantasies -- Ch. 4. Fortresses of Fear -- Ch. 5. National Ballets -- Ch. 6. A Menacing Tradition -- Ch. 7. Undesigning Women -- Ch. 8. Changing the Subject.

Abstract:

"By following the lives of these women, Elder identifies spatialized forms of marginalization, impoverishment, infection, and disempowerment. He argues that the gendered geography of the migrant labor system developed in South Africa was premised upon sexual assumptions about men, women, and their bodies. Feminist and queer analyses of space, as well as the women's own survival strategies, may provide signposts to the way out of apartheid's malevolent geography."--BOOK JACKET.

"In the last decade, the South African state has been transformed dramatically, but the stubborn, menacing geography of apartheid still stands in the way of that country's visions of change. Environmentally degraded old homelands still scar the rural geography. Formerly segregated, now gated, neighborhoods still inhibit free movement. Hostels, Sexuality, and the Apartheid Legacy is a study of another such space, the converted "male" migrant worker hostel." "Hostels, known to be sites of public and domestic violence and literal destruction and rebuilding, have also become home to increasing numbers of "invisible" female residents. Finding that one way to understand hostel space is through women's experiences, Elder interviewed thirty black migrant women living in an East Rand hostel to map the everyday geographies of South Africa's time of change.".

Subject Term:

Women, Black -- South Africa -- Social conditions.

Migrant labor -- Housing -- South Africa.

Lodging-houses -- Social aspects -- South Africa.

Sex role -- South Africa.

Spatial behavior -- South Africa.

Geographic Term:

South Africa -- Social conditions -- 1994-

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168015725340	305.48896068 E37H 2003	1	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

In the last decade, the South African state has been transformed dramatically, but the stubborn, menacing geography of apartheid still stands in the way of that country's visions of change. Environmentally degraded old homelands still scar the rural geography of South Africa.
Formerly segregated, now gated, neighborhoods still inhibit free movement. Hostels, Sexuality, and the Apartheid Legacy is a study of another such space, the converted "male" migrant worker hostel.
Professor Glen Elder identifies hostels as sites of public and domestic violence, literal destruction and rebuilding, and as an important node in the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Hostels have also become home to increasing numbers of "invisible" female residents. Finding that one way to understand hostel space is through women's experiences, Professor Elder turned to thirty black migrant women living in an East Rand hostel to map the everyday geographies of South Africa's time of change.
By following the lives of these women, Elder identifies spatialized forms of marginalization, impoverishment, infection, and disempowerment. But, as he points out, the women's survival strategies may provide signposts to the way out of apartheid's malevolent geography.
Hostels, Sexuality, and the Apartheid Legacy argues that the gendered geography of the migrant labor system developed in South Africa was premised upon sexual assumptions about men, women, and their bodies, and that feminist and queer analyses of space can inform public policy decisions.