Inequality And Race

Today it is widely recognised in urban sociology that space reinforces and reflects inequality or discrimination. Nowhere is this more trenchant and obviously true than in Southern Africa, where the economic, racial, and social divisions of Apartheid were spatially and geographically constructed. Post-apartheid presents a uniquely powerful and important lens for examining the vigorous relationship between inequality and space. On the one hand, apartheid city’s produced a compartmentalized, highly legible, and stark spatial hierarchy of class, access and race. On the other hand, the termination of the apartheid regime has created and unleashed powerful transformative forces, especially market forces that were no longer fettered by racial barriers
Wealth coupled with occupation make up or structure the primary sources of the class differences (Intriligator, 1982:309-313). In other words, class systems function chiefly on impersonal, broad associations.

Marx’s theory, although it is useful in explaining the nature or characteristics of the capitalist system, does not go exceedingly far in terms of providing us with an understanding and describing any type of modern society, as the partition of labour has develop to a degree that society cannot merely be divided into any one of two classes. In contrast, Weber provides us with a more modern theory. Weber takes the rise of knowledge and the based economy division of employment or labour into account when dividing society into different social classes. He provides a theoretical analysis and description that serves a better or greater purpose when one applies it to the South African society when the twentieth century came to an end. Weber’s theoretical account of society also allows one to understand the lives and circumstances of the youth in South Africa. Due to this, I believe that the explanatory power provided by the Weberian approach or theory is
In the 19th century gold and diamonds were discovered, this was an opportunity for the white man to convert/change the agricultural black population into low-cost labour. (Clark & Worger, 2011: 113-136). This was a more profitable for the big international corporations that owned these mines- while they were drowning in money countless black people were dying from poverty and starvation. (Clark & Worger, 2011: 113-136). The Apartheid government intensified and systemized the current situation of repression and exploitation. The National Party politicians spooked the white population with the “swart gevaar”, called the “Black menace” in English, and the fear of an attack/invasion from the neighbouring countries (Pillar, 2012). Besides this they also targeted the Indian community with an equal amount of hatred.

The black population’s right to freedom of speech was taken away from them, if they talked back the police would not have hesitated to use brute force (beat them). Their access to services and jobs were denied or minimal and they had to carry a pass with them wherever they went (Pillar, 2012).If they were caught without their pass they would be sent to jail or forced into slave-like