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Elder, Glen S. 2003. HOSTELS, SEXUALITY, AND THE APARTHEID LEGACY: MALEVOLENT GEOGRAPHIES. Athens: Ohio University Press. 188 pp. $24.95 (paper).
The geographic legacy of apartheid bequeathed to democratic South Africa is replete with physical structures, land use, migration patterns, and public-policy norms and preferences, all of which will bedevil reform efforts for decades. Glen Elder equates the physical legacy of apartheid with the malicious tokoloshe of Zulu mythology, which he links by arguing that phallocentrism lies at the core of their respective malevolencies. Making this argument, Elder's book covers a wide expanse of important and topical material. Foremost, Elder seeks to "infect" the conventional literature on South African history, geography, and political economy with an appreciation for a "queer, feminist perspective" (p. xii). He offers an empirical analysis of the KwaThema hostel-its history, fluid residents, relations with proximate and distant communities, and recent upgrading efforts. Finally, he moves into the realm of public policy, to draw attention to flaws in the South African government's housing and HIV/AIDS policies-flaws caused by inadequate understanding of the heteropatriarchal social and geographic contexts in which individuals live and make decisions. Each of these tasks is worthy of extensive study. Elder's book emphasizes...