Resisting Erasure. Gentrification in Woodstock.

This master thesis in Social Anthropology is based on a literature study of the impact gentrification have had on Woodstock, South Africa. Woodstock is a neighbourhood in Cape Town, South Africa and have throughout history been a racially and ethnically diverse neighbourhood, despite the segregation in South Africa during colonial and apartheid times. The original plans of the study was to conduct an extensive field-work, and through ethnographic research methods, uncover the impact gentrification have had. Unfortonuately, with the global pandemic of Covid-19, causing Norway and the rest of the world into a lockdown, the travel arrangements and plans had to be scrapped. As a result of this, I concluded to continue my study, by executing a literature study of the topic. Because of this, the study changed from an ethnographical study to a literature study. Gentrification as first discussed by Ruth Glass in 1964, details the transformation of inner-city predominantly working-class neighbourhood suffering from urban decay. Through the influx of the middle-class, the neighbourhood would be rejuvenated and would eventually lead to the displacement of the local working-class residents in the area. As showed through the theoretical framework in chapter 4, gentrification can transform the both the social character as well as the physical landscape of the neighbourhood. With the theory of gentrification brought on by Glass (1964) , we can see that the changes that have taken place in Woodstock, can be the result of the government’s attempt on lifting the neighbourhood out of from urban decay and poverty. Especially by implementing major benefits for investors, such as tax reduction and making most of Woodstock into Urban Development Zones (UDZ), they contributed into the process of gentrification in Woodstock. The purpose of this study was originally to discover the impact gentrification have had on Woodstock, especially on the low-income working-class residents. During my research, I quickly concluded that the impact, goes beyond theories on gentrification, as a recurring theme was that gentrification can be considered a continuation of the state-lead forced removal during apartheid. This changed the whole perspective of the study, as i realized the implications and consequences of gentrification where far more severe than first believed. The focus of this study, therefore changed