| Main centres: | 1-3 business days |
| Regional areas: | 3-4 business days |
| Remote areas: | 3-5 business days |
Published by Wits University Press, 1995, softcover, index, 280 pages, condition: new.
The book challenges the long-held view that Victorian Cape Town was a "liberal oasis". Bickford-Smith argues that while the city had a reputation for colour-blindness, the English merchant class was often as racist as their Afrikaner farming counterparts. Their prejudice manifested in a "peculiarly English" discourse focused on sanitation, disease, and social degeneracy, often weaponised by the political "Clean Party".
Explores how ethnic categoriesincluding Malay, Coloured, and Africanwere formed and solidified through social practice.
Examines how the discovery of diamonds and gold in the interior led to rapid growth in Cape Town, heightening urban fears and racial tensions.
Details how obsession with "drains and disease" served as a proxy for social control and racial segregation.
Represents the views of the lower social orders by analyzing their festivals and community cultures.
