Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to develop a theory captured by its title: ‘strategiccommunications of the streets.’ It defines strategic communications as the aligning of words, images, actions and policy with strategy by an organised body, with the intent to achieve change in attitudes and/or behaviour of the target audience. Drawing on the conceptual framework and methodology of the Chicago School of Sociology, this thesis investigates how South African government strategic communications under the operational ideology of apartheid, as communicated through the built environment of model townships, was designed, received, interpreted, rewritten and resisted by the residents of Johannesburg between the 1950s and 1980s. As such, it answers the following research question: What was the role of urban spaces as means of strategic communications in shaping, communicating, interpreting and resisting apartheid through the model townships of Johannesburg?
Combining archival research with narrative inquiry through qualitative interviews, this thesis contends that strategic communications is not a static, one-way act, especially when communicated through the built environment. Rather it is a constant (re)negotiation with and between those living in it. The study concludes that the National Party government of South Africa employed the design and governance of model townships between the 1950s and 1980s to delineate the imaginary horizon of its residents. In doing so it partially succeeded in suppressing political consciousness and activity, in line with the apartheid goal of keeping the black population ‘tribal’ and ‘docile.’ The narratives of Johannesburg’s residents reveal, however, that the meaning of township spaces was rewritten and renegotiated between the 1950s and the 1980s. In describing these processes of reclaiming space, the thesis finds that the strategic communications of space by the apartheid government indeed partially succeeded, but complete control of the meaning of model townships was not in their hands. In the contested environment of Johannesburg’s model townships, residents did not simply accept the boundaries to space and life imposed on them. In conjunction with political actors, residents interpreted, rewrote, and sometimes completely erased government-imposed meaning. In doing so, the imaginary horizon of model township residents was broken through, allowing for a rapid increase in political consciousness and protest during the 1970s and 1980s which significantly contributed to the downfall of apartheid.
The original contribution to the field of strategic communications provided by this thesis is twofold. First, the role of the built environment as a means of strategic communications remains unexplored in academic literature. Moving beyond existing scholarship on the political use of the built environment, urban space is integrated here in a broader strategic communications framework. The thesis positions the design, construction and administration of model townships in Johannesburg in the overarching strategic communications of apartheid by the National Party government. Second, existing literature on strategic communications primarily takes a top-down lens. This thesis analyses audiences as actors rather than passive receivers, enriching our understanding of the engagement of audiences with strategic communications. Instead of looking down on the audience as the receiver of a message, it joins the model township residents in looking up at the strategic communicator. Consequently, it analyses a more direct and contested renegotiation of the meaning of the built environment. Audiences do not simply receive and interpret strategic communications, they respond, push back, and reinterpret. In conclusion, this thesis finds that the study of space should be integrated into the field of strategic communications, and more in-depth engagement with non-state actors and audiences is necessary.
| Date of Award | 1 Jan 2022 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | John Spence (Supervisor) & Neville Bolt (Supervisor) |