ABSTRACT
This chapter examines contemporary Soweto—South Africa's largest black peri-urban area—through the comparative lens of the ghetto. It aims to elucidate some of the cultural forms that have developed in Soweto since the end of apartheid in 1994, but in the context of a much longer history. The author's approach is historical, but also ethnographic: he have conducted extensive fieldwork in Soweto over the past eight years and, as an ethnomusicologist, have focused primarily on popular music practices associated with a genre known as kwaito. The chapter includes discussions of music but extends more generally to cultural practices in contemporary Soweto. Since its inception, Soweto has been governed by principles of segregation and movement control. Soweto was originally created by the ruling white minority of South Africa as a collection of contiguous areas to the south-west of Johannesburg with the purpose of housing black workers.
