Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

From the Ninevites to the hard livings gang: township gangsters and urban violence in twentieth‐century South Africa

From the Ninevites to the hard livings gang: township gangsters and urban violence in... African Studies, 58, 1, 1999 From the Ninevites to the Hard Livings Gang: Township Gangsters and Urban Violence in Twentieth-century South Africa* Gary Kynoch Dalhousie University Introduction Despite the unprecedented level of public concern with violent crime in the new South Africa, surprisingly little effort has been made to explore the historical roots of urban gangsterism. Since their establishment, the segregated African and Coloured residential areas commonly referred to as townships have proved a fertile breeding ground for criminal gangs. By examining the history of township gangs, this paper seeks to provide explanations for this phenomenon. Three main suggestions are advanced: • Gang/community relations were fluid and ambiguous and to understand why gangs have been (and remain) such a prevalent presence in the townships we need to appreciate the fragmented nature of township society and the ways in which gangs reflected, exploited and exacerbated urban fault lines • As a result of various social and economic factors, criminal groups were often able to attain significant support from segments of their communities • State forces have a long history of promoting and sponsoring gangs and this support has been critical to the survival and prosperity of criminal organisa- tions in http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png African Studies Taylor & Francis

From the Ninevites to the hard livings gang: township gangsters and urban violence in twentieth‐century South Africa

Kynoch, Gary
African Studies , Volume 58 (1): 31 – Jul 1, 1999
Download PDF
31 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/taylor-francis/from-the-ninevites-to-the-hard-livings-gang-township-gangsters-and-wzMyxNyoOl

References

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN
1469-2872
eISSN
0002-0184
DOI
10.1080/00020189908707905
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

African Studies, 58, 1, 1999 From the Ninevites to the Hard Livings Gang: Township Gangsters and Urban Violence in Twentieth-century South Africa* Gary Kynoch Dalhousie University Introduction Despite the unprecedented level of public concern with violent crime in the new South Africa, surprisingly little effort has been made to explore the historical roots of urban gangsterism. Since their establishment, the segregated African and Coloured residential areas commonly referred to as townships have proved a fertile breeding ground for criminal gangs. By examining the history of township gangs, this paper seeks to provide explanations for this phenomenon. Three main suggestions are advanced: • Gang/community relations were fluid and ambiguous and to understand why gangs have been (and remain) such a prevalent presence in the townships we need to appreciate the fragmented nature of township society and the ways in which gangs reflected, exploited and exacerbated urban fault lines • As a result of various social and economic factors, criminal groups were often able to attain significant support from segments of their communities • State forces have a long history of promoting and sponsoring gangs and this support has been critical to the survival and prosperity of criminal organisa- tions in

Journal

African Studies – Taylor & Francis

Published: Jul 1, 1999

There are no references for this article.