FirstCity
Welcome to First City University College Library iPortal | library@firstcity.edu.my | +603-7735 2088 (Ext. 519)
Amazon cover image
Image from Amazon.com

Transformation from below? : white suburbia in the transformation of apartheid South Africa to democracy / Ursula Scheidegger.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Basel Southern Africa studies ; 9.Publisher: Basel, Switzerland : Basler Afrika Bibliographien, 2015Description: 1 online resourceContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • computer
Carrier type:
  • online resource
ISBN:
  • 9783905758719
  • 3905758717
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Additional physical formats: Print version:: Transformation from below?.DDC classification:
  • 306.0968221
LOC classification:
  • HN801.J64 S345 2015eb
Online resources:
Contents:
Social dynamics in two formerly white Johannesburg neighbourhoods : an introduction -- 1. Social dynamics and the concept of social capital -- 2. The challenges of democratic consolidation in South Africa -- 3. Urban neighbourhoods and challenges of cooperation and order -- 4. Local communities and the ambiguity of transformation -- 5. Local schools and their impact on integration, civic engagement and neighbourhood sociability -- 6. Religious communities and responses to the challenges of transformation, value changes and inequality -- 7. Five years later : what has changed? -- 8. Conclusion : transformation from below? -- Appendix.
Summary: South Africa is an example of a relatively successful political transition. Nevertheless, the first democratic elections in 1994 did not change the systemic and structural inequalities, the socioeconomic legacies of discrimination or the alienation of the different population groups. At the centre of this study is the transformation potential of two formerly white neighbourhoods in Johannesburg - Norwood and Orange Grove. Both neighbourhoods have experienced considerable demographic changes and the various population groups differ in terms of their expectations and their willingness to adjust to the changes provoked by the transition. At the local level, patterns of discrimination and oppression continue. Spaces, opportunities and leverage of social networks engaged in the community are influenced by the resources people are able to access. Moreover, cooperation is contested in a context of pervasive inequality because there is no incentive for privileged groups to change arrangements that benefit them. In this context of conflicting interests and unequal access to power and resources, decentralisation and the promotion of participatory structures in local communities are a problem and the reliance on local networks as agents of development is questionable.
Star ratings
    Average rating: 0.0 (0 votes)
No physical items for this record

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Vendor-supplied metadata.

Social dynamics in two formerly white Johannesburg neighbourhoods : an introduction -- 1. Social dynamics and the concept of social capital -- 2. The challenges of democratic consolidation in South Africa -- 3. Urban neighbourhoods and challenges of cooperation and order -- 4. Local communities and the ambiguity of transformation -- 5. Local schools and their impact on integration, civic engagement and neighbourhood sociability -- 6. Religious communities and responses to the challenges of transformation, value changes and inequality -- 7. Five years later : what has changed? -- 8. Conclusion : transformation from below? -- Appendix.

South Africa is an example of a relatively successful political transition. Nevertheless, the first democratic elections in 1994 did not change the systemic and structural inequalities, the socioeconomic legacies of discrimination or the alienation of the different population groups. At the centre of this study is the transformation potential of two formerly white neighbourhoods in Johannesburg - Norwood and Orange Grove. Both neighbourhoods have experienced considerable demographic changes and the various population groups differ in terms of their expectations and their willingness to adjust to the changes provoked by the transition. At the local level, patterns of discrimination and oppression continue. Spaces, opportunities and leverage of social networks engaged in the community are influenced by the resources people are able to access. Moreover, cooperation is contested in a context of pervasive inequality because there is no incentive for privileged groups to change arrangements that benefit them. In this context of conflicting interests and unequal access to power and resources, decentralisation and the promotion of participatory structures in local communities are a problem and the reliance on local networks as agents of development is questionable.

English.

eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - Worldwide