The apartheid era in South Africa lasted more than 40 years. It was marked by political repression and the attempt to create a homogeneous “white South Africa”, which meant excluding the non-white majority population. The establishment and maintenance of white supremacy in South Africa by colonialism and, since 1948, grand apartheid was not only the result of racist regulations and laws, but also followed a "scientific" logic to justify the resettlement and expulsion of South African blacks.The history of South Africa from 1948 to 1994 can also be seen as the history of a major society-spanning project; an attempt to build a “modern” state on the basis of racial segregation.This work investigates the factors that make it possible to stabilize a policy based on virtually impossible prerequisites over four decades: Ethnic categorization, territorial planning and "environmental protection measures".

Sabine von Heusiger ist Professorin für Geschichte des Mittelalters an der Universität zu Köln.