The Atlas of Apartheid

The Atlas of Apartheid demonstrates the highly spatial aspects of the South African govenment's racial policy since the National Party came to power in 1948.

The study is framed by an analysis of the influence of the colonial and dominion periods and the historical and geographical legacy for a post-apartheid South Africa.

Racial separation operated at the three distinct levels of "petty apartheid", urban segregation and "grand apartheid".

Petty apartheid involved detailed social segregation, including separate sections of post offices and other official buildings for whites and others.

This was extended to separate recreational facilities, transport and churches.

Urban segregation - most notoriously through the "Group Areas Act" - sought to segregate place of residence and commerce.

South African cities were redesigned as Africans were moved out of urban centres to leave zones for whites.

Grand apartheid - the forced resettlement and restriction of Africans to the new homelands - confirmed the policy of excluding the majority of the population from South Africa's political process. The Atlas describes the legislation and impact of apartheid and the resistance, both local and international, to its racial policies.

The integration of detailed maps and text reinforces the specifically spatial nature of apartheid, the way the map of South Africa was redrawn and continues to be redrawn.