A qualitative study of space, everyday practice, and aspiration among the residents of Koodoo Street, Kewtown: a historically coloured neighbourhood in Cape Town.
Date
2023-03
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
Abstract
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This project explores the everyday experiences of Koodoo Street (Kewtown) residents as informed by historical spatial planning. Theories of language and practice in conjunction with discourse on apartheid systems of stigmatized spatial planning provides insight into the ways that the coloured residents of Koodoo Street politicize their space and finally, claim personhood. The paper observes the Koodoo Street space as locally divided into upper and lower subsections with polarizing infrastructure that forces residents to navigate everyday life and identity in complex ways. I argue that this culminates into a set of affective neighbourhood politics that has internal social implications. This is preserved and reproduced through the ways locals use language and perform understated daily practices. Using a qualitative, ethnographic approach I collaborate observation and interviews to engage with ten Koodoo Street residents aged 18 and older. Overarching themes relate to space, language, and stratification- focusing on spatial planning as it precedes and reinforces stigma. Also, the role that language and politics plays in claiming personhood. Finally, I explore the resident’s capacity to aspire despite internal narratives and the limitations of space in this post-apartheid landscape.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen Afrikaanse opsomming beskikbaar nie.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen Afrikaanse opsomming beskikbaar nie.
Description
Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2023.