Ambivalent geographies of encounter inside and around the fortified homes of middle class Whites in Cape Town

Abstract

Drawing on in-depth interviews with 78 middle class Whites in two neighborhoods of Cape Town, this paper focuses on domestic geographies of encounter. By looking at the motivations to fortify houses with walls, gates and alarms, it will be demonstrated, first, that seemingly banal actions to secure the residential environment are not only dependent upon the socio-spatial exclusion of poor people, but also specifically targeting it. Secondly, it will be argued that fortified homes provide, nevertheless, one of the rare places where White, middle class South Africans interact across class and race lines. Precisely because of the perceived absence of a crime threat, encounters with domestic workers, builders and homeless people inside and around fortified homes do not only help middle class Whites to shatter their naive assumptions about crime, poverty and privilege, but to set up small-scale acts of generosity as well. Based on these findings, the conclusion raises three issues to take up in the geographies of encounter literature. They relate to the nature of interactions, the conditions under which they emerge and their potential effects.