'Hooligans, spivs and loafers'? : the politics of vagrancy in 1960s southern Rhodesia

In 1960, amidst the most violent period of protest since conquest, the Southern Rhodesian government implemented a new Vagrancy Act alongside a range of repressive legislation. The Act's origins lay in a particular analysis of the social origins of unrest. It was unprecedented in promising not...

Olles dieđut

Bibliográfalaš dieđut
Váldodahkki: Alexander, J
Materiálatiipa: Journal article
Almmustuhtton: Cambridge University Press 2012
_version_ 1826282175582961664
author Alexander, J
author_facet Alexander, J
author_sort Alexander, J
collection OXFORD
description In 1960, amidst the most violent period of protest since conquest, the Southern Rhodesian government implemented a new Vagrancy Act alongside a range of repressive legislation. The Act's origins lay in a particular analysis of the social origins of unrest. It was unprecedented in promising not to exclude and criminalise ‘vagrants’ but to rehabilitate them as productive urban citizens. By presenting the Act as reformist and progressive, the government sought legitimacy for its actions. In fact, the Vagrancy Act was deeply punitive, underlining the tensions between reform and repression in settler social engineering. African leaders and Africans targeted by the Act saw it as a means of humiliating and criminalising those denied a livelihood by the settler political economy. In rejecting the Act, they invoked different models of citizenship to those on offer from the state. The Vagrancy Act ultimately met its demise at the hands of the Rhodesian Front, whose analysis of African protest made no space for the possibilities of reformist social engineering.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T00:39:52Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:82aea160-8bfa-4efa-a89a-4c5b72ba1f3d
institution University of Oxford
last_indexed 2024-03-07T00:39:52Z
publishDate 2012
publisher Cambridge University Press
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:82aea160-8bfa-4efa-a89a-4c5b72ba1f3d2022-03-26T21:39:00Z'Hooligans, spivs and loafers'? : the politics of vagrancy in 1960s southern RhodesiaJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:82aea160-8bfa-4efa-a89a-4c5b72ba1f3dSocial Sciences Division - DaisyCambridge University Press2012Alexander, JIn 1960, amidst the most violent period of protest since conquest, the Southern Rhodesian government implemented a new Vagrancy Act alongside a range of repressive legislation. The Act's origins lay in a particular analysis of the social origins of unrest. It was unprecedented in promising not to exclude and criminalise ‘vagrants’ but to rehabilitate them as productive urban citizens. By presenting the Act as reformist and progressive, the government sought legitimacy for its actions. In fact, the Vagrancy Act was deeply punitive, underlining the tensions between reform and repression in settler social engineering. African leaders and Africans targeted by the Act saw it as a means of humiliating and criminalising those denied a livelihood by the settler political economy. In rejecting the Act, they invoked different models of citizenship to those on offer from the state. The Vagrancy Act ultimately met its demise at the hands of the Rhodesian Front, whose analysis of African protest made no space for the possibilities of reformist social engineering.
spellingShingle Alexander, J
'Hooligans, spivs and loafers'? : the politics of vagrancy in 1960s southern Rhodesia
title 'Hooligans, spivs and loafers'? : the politics of vagrancy in 1960s southern Rhodesia
title_full 'Hooligans, spivs and loafers'? : the politics of vagrancy in 1960s southern Rhodesia
title_fullStr 'Hooligans, spivs and loafers'? : the politics of vagrancy in 1960s southern Rhodesia
title_full_unstemmed 'Hooligans, spivs and loafers'? : the politics of vagrancy in 1960s southern Rhodesia
title_short 'Hooligans, spivs and loafers'? : the politics of vagrancy in 1960s southern Rhodesia
title_sort hooligans spivs and loafers the politics of vagrancy in 1960s southern rhodesia
work_keys_str_mv AT alexanderj hooligansspivsandloafersthepoliticsofvagrancyin1960ssouthernrhodesia