Within global urban historiography there has been no detailed exploration of the nature and consequences of mingling across ethnic, racial or national boundaries in cities strongly socially and spatially divided along such as Belfast, Beirut, Jerusalem or Johannesburg. Might such mingling of people – and, with them, cultures and ideas – matter by helping to erode the boundaries? This project aims to begin to fill the gap and answer this question by exploring the relatively little-known history of such mingling in South Africa’s major cities during the apartheid era. The intention is to reveal how this was possible, who was involved, where, why, and with what historically significant consequences.
My argument is that boundary crossing was not just about defying apartheid laws aimed at cradle-to-grave segregation. Rather it could also generate social networks that supported historically salient co-operative cultural and political endeavours based on these foundations. Those involved produced journals, novels, plays, music, satire, art, educational initiatives, civic and political organisations and movements that helped undermine apartheid. Because, in combination, they gave visual and material substance, both within and beyond South Africa, to otherwise abstract notions of shared humanity and thereby persuasively promoted the desirability of common citizenship.
