I. The Meaning of Christopher's "An Atlas of Apartheid"?
A.J. Christopher (1994) promotes a hypothesis in his book, The Atlas of Apartheid, that the very foundation of the apartheid system was based on spatial concerns. The architects of the apartheid system were convinced that the preservation of the white race as well as its political and economic dominance were linked to a separation of the races. Christopher analyzes the history of the apartheid era in South Africa in terms of the classic approach of atlases by looking at time, space, and demographics.
Christopher traces the roots of apartheid back to the colonial era as Dutch colonists came to South Africa in search of cheap, plentiful, farmable land (Christopher, 1994, 9). Many of the important concepts underpinning apartheid philosophy and the need to protect the privileged status of the white race grew out of the administration of the South African colony by England. Christopher builds a framework for his study based on time by emphasizing certain important benchmarks in the development of that controversial system. For example, he begins his study in 1652 with the arrival of Dutch settlers under the auspices of the Dutch East India Company (Christopher, 1994, 13). The British dominated era began in 1806 and it was under their administration that a distinct, politically, and economically influential white culture known as Afrikaner developed. Afrikaners seeking to preserve their privileged position and culture swept to power in 1948 under the Nationalist Party (Christopher, 1994, 1).
Spatial aspects of apartheid are, for Christopher, a central characteristic of the long history of racial conflict in South Africa. Christopher notes that the Afrikaners were deeply concerned with preserving their power and heritage through separation of the races. Interestingly, he points out that one of the important characteristics which distinguished 20th century South African ...