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Contesting Apartheid Ruins

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Colonial Heritage and Urban Transformation in the Global South

Part of the book series: Studies in Art, Heritage, Law and the Market ((SAHLM,volume 2))

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Abstract

Focusing on District Six, this chapter is concerned with the ruins of contemporary Cape Town, both its literal ruins and the ruination of urban dreams. Discussing the counter-practice of the District Six Museum in relation to the restitution and redevelopment of District Six, I further develop the critique of CRM discourse introduced in the preceding chapters. I explain how the museum tried to name the heritage of the district outside the logic of Cape Town as a global city. Yet, ultimately, its ideal of realizing a new neighborhood of racial harmony and equity fell apart, and the space for subaltern urban experiences, memories, and dreams was reduced as a result.

An adaptation of this chapter was published in Social Dynamics 45 (2019) and permission for reproduction is hereby acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of History, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Christian Ernsten

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  1. Christian Ernsten
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Ernsten, C. (2021). Contesting Apartheid Ruins. In: Colonial Heritage and Urban Transformation in the Global South. Studies in Art, Heritage, Law and the Market, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85806-3_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85806-3_5

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