The cultural turn marks a reorientation of human geography's interdisciplinary concerns toward the wide field of cultural studies. It is argued that this reorientation has been mediated by distinctive forms of commercial academic book publishing. These have been the medium for the internationalisation of cultural studies upon which human geography's serious engagement with the field has depended. It is argued that the combination of a greater reliance upon work drawn from the humanities and the imperatives of publishing have led to the contemporary proliferation of cultural theory being associated with new forms of academic celebrity. The critical questioning of the cultural turn is therefore located in relation to the formsof authority and evaluation that it has the potential to promote.

The cultural turn: fashion or progress in human geography?

In an introductory section, this paper considers briefly the achievements and problems of urban governance in post-apartheid South Africa through an assessment of three categories: administrative reform, developmental issues and conflicts over service delivery issues. It then goes on to assess continuity and change in South African cities. Continuity is the norm in understanding urban history with change understood as a series of accretions and as a layering of features, unless major economic shifts or revolutionary political shifts are in place. Using the example of Durban, a series of changes is highlighted, which fit into what the deracialized growth path allows and encourages. The paper argues that thus far, the ANC government has shown little capacity or desire to discipline capital along the lines suggested, for instance, by the Reconstruction and Development Programme’s section on public transport. Larger changes are thus limited by the predilections and established discourses of the business world and the absence of more dynamic and structured public intervention.

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Is There Such a Thing as a Post-apartheid City?

In this paper we examine critical engagement in research in order to rethink and reconfigure binaries such as theorizer and practitioner and theory and practice across South and North. We argue that while we welcome the ‘moral geographies’ literature (and its ideas about ‘caring at a distance’) as a catalyst for forging more beneficial connections between South and North, we suggest this is not enough. Drawing on South African experiences of critical academic engagement in issues of urban geography, we examine moments for innovative knowledge construction that bridge theory and practice. These experiences are used to substantiate a normative argument for ‘inclusive geographies’ through critical engagement in order to break down boundaries between, for instance, theorizers and practitioners, intellectuals and activists, and South and North.

Engagement and reconstruction in critical research: negotiating urban practice, policy and theory in South Africa

Imizamo Yethu, in Cape Town, is one of the many informal settlements in South Africa's post-Apartheid urban landscape. Residents live in abject poverty and are potentially vulnerable to a range of environmental hazards, of which fire hazard is one of the most common. A major fire, on the 8 February 2004, caused significant damage to housing and infrastructure, resulting in widespread homelessness and loss of personal possessions. Despite this, there was minimal loss of life and few major injuries. The community re-grouped after the fire and Imizamo Yethu has remained viable as a community to the present day. Contemporary geographical research on hazards emphasises aspects of community vulnerability and resilience. The present paper identifies and examines factors that enhance community resilience in the informal settlement of Imizamo Yethu, particularly in response and recovery to fire events. A survey completed in the aftermath of the 2004 fire found that social networks, some formal community institutions that foster community participation and the resourcefulness of individuals were the most important factors underpinning resilience.

Imizamo Yethu: a Case Study of Community Resilience to Fire Hazard in an Informal Settlement Cape Town, South Africa

This paper presents an overview and review of trends in South African urban geography. The paper will reveal that until recently, the Eurocentric dominance was very evident in urban geography. Initially the sub-discipline served to legitimate the apartheid status quo. In the 1980s a new generation of radical scholars began to challenge the Eurocentric hegemony, calling for de-colonisation and the development of an indigenous approach to geography. By the early 1990s urban geographers were contributing to reconstruction, development and planning in a non-racial democracy. Many urban researchers became policy makers and consultants to the government and this inevitably led to a decline in critical scholarship At the turn of the century a new breed of critical scholars were challenging the neoliberal urban strategies in the fledgling democracy.

From apartheid apologism to post-apartheid neo-liberalism: paradigm shifts in south african urban geography

Geography in the 1990s is a dynamic and diverse discipline. South Africa offers a particularly rich and fascinating subject for research because of its unique blend of First and Third Worlds and the challenges presented by political change. The nineteen contributors to this volume debate geographical issues which are at the cutting edge of contemporary local, and international research on South Africa. Environmental degradation, urban and rural planning, transport, the future role of women, and popular culture are among the broad range of topics covered. A full listing of current research into these topics is provided at the end of the book to facilitate further enquiry.

Jeffrey McCarthy

Papers

Geography in a changing South Africa : progress and prospects