Ashwin Desai, Goolam Vahed

Belonging (eBook, ePUB)

A History of Indian South Africans

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

What does it mean to belong?Across oceans and centuries, this sweeping narrative shuttles between the corridors of the Colonial Office in London, the contested streets of Durban, and the changing power dynamics within the British Raj. The first boatload of indentured Indians arrived in Natal in 1860. Thousands were to follow. In haunting detail, the book captures the plight of these labourers as well as the vicious onslaught faced by the merchant class for daring to outpace their colonial rivals. At its core are the untold struggles of Indian South Africans as they confront the ever-present threat of repatriation.Sensitive to shifting political terrains, the book weaves together seismic events - the independence of India, the coming of apartheid and the threat once more of mass expulsions - with the texture of everyday life. The granting of citizenship in 1961 is accompanied by mass relocations as the Group Areas Act rips communities from their roots. Yet, out of this despair, barren townships on the edges of cities are turned into places of hope.In the final chapters, the fall of apartheid offers a moment of transcendence. Yet it also asks: what does it mean, at last, to belong? It is a fascinating story of the global and the local, of resistance and collaboration, and undefeated optimism. This is a book for anyone who has ever sought a place to

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Jonathan Ball
• Seitenzahl: 336
• Erscheinungstermin: 23. September 2025
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781776193721
• Artikelnr.: 75510691

Autorenporträt

ASHWIN DESAI is Professor of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg. His 2002 book We are the Poors: Community Struggles in post-apartheid South Africa was described by Naomi Klein as 'one of the best books yet on globalisation and resistance'. 2012 saw The Witness lauding his book Reading Revolution: Shakespeare on Robben Island, holding that 'there could be few better tributes to the power of the written word'. Wentworth: The Beautiful Game and the Making of Place was awarded the 2021 National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) award for best non-fiction monograph. In 2023 he received the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and Universities South Africa (USAf) Medal in the category 'Established Researcher' for a 'lifetime of achievement and excellence in social justice research, teaching and training, and community activism'.