Environmental racism and justice in South Africa's transition

In current debates on transformation in South Africa, socio-spatial differentiation and the ways racism may be produced in the built environment are rarely explored. While racial boundaries have become less rigid, new proxies for racism are developing, while racial inequalities deepen. Among the privileged strata, defence of safe neighbourhoods and property values often slides into certain kinds of exclusions, which take on racial hues. This article takes a pessimistic view of socio-spatial change in South Africa and explores how the built environment and racism are linked. It argues for a wide definition of environmental racism and points to the limits of current environmental rights discourse.