Appropriating modernism: Apartheid and the South Africa Township

Abstract

Modernism has been used during the 20th century to support and justify political aims and agendas. Although social inequality in South Africa has roots in its colonial past, it was in the 1950’s that institutional segregation was formalized resulting in race-based spatial structurse and inbuilt inequalities. The paper outlines how the modern movement provided a rationale for advancing this programme as a largely technical exercise that enabled the social and political contradictions involved to be sidestepped. Traced is the early impact of the modern movement in South Africa and the emergence of close relationships between local and European protagonists. The application of the modernist agenda is discussed in relation to the spatialisation of race, the emergence of the apartheid city in the 1960’s, and the delivery of a mass housing programme in the segregated township. Conclusions are drawn concerning the extent to which this legacy has resulted in highly inefficient cities that now confront post-apartheid South African in the 21st century.