Durban

Les Indiens, leurs territoires, leur identité

Hélène MAINET-VALLEIX, 2002, Paris, Karthala; Johannesburg, IFAS
ISBN : 2-84586-314-4
Coll. Hommes et sociétés; Collection directed by Jean Copans

[Book in French]

Coming mainly from the regions of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras, Indians make up 30% of the Durban population. After their arrival in the city at the end of the 19th century, they took part in its spatial and economic development. They were submitted to various successive segregation policies.

Subject to quartering, being made instrumental as intermediaries between Whites and Africans, they were able to modify their identity-related parameters to create a sense of community encompassing their social and cultural disparities. Quartered into prescribed spaces, they transformed and took charge of their suburbs to make them the centre of their urban socialising and dwellership.

This work deals with territorialisation scales. How do Indians practice and perceive the various urban spaces and groups?