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Revision as of 14:19, 30 July 2007 by T L Miles (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Social apartheid refers to de facto segregation on the basis of class or economic status in which an underclass develops which is separated from the rest of the population. The term has become common in Latin America in particular in societies where the polarization between rich and poor has become pronounced and has been identified in public policy as a problem that needs to be overcome, such as in Venezuela where the supporters of Hugo Chavez identify social apartheid as a reality which the wealthy try to maintain and Brazil, where the term was coined to describe a situation where wealthy neighbourhoods are protected from the general population by walls, electric barbed wire and private security guards and where inhabitants of the poor slums are subjected to violence.
The term social apartheid has also been used to explain and describe the ghettoization of generally impoverished Muslim immigrants in specific suburbs and as a cause of rioting and other violence.
In South Africa, the term "social apartheid" has been used to describe persistant post-apartheid forms of exclusion and de facto segregation which exist based on class but which have a racial component due to the fact that the poor are almost entirely African. "Social apartheid" has been cited as a factor in the composition of HIV/AIDS in South Africa.
References
- Charles Murray. he advantages of social apartheid. US experience shows Britain what to do with its underclass – get it off the streets. The Sunday Times. April 3, 2005.
- [http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1279 Paul-Emile Dupret. Help Venezuela Break Down Social Apartheid. Le Soir Tuesday, Sep 14, 2004.]