Get Discount 5% Off
Subscribe to our newsletters now and stay up-to-date with new arrivals, updates and deals.
Unstable Ground: The Lives, Deaths, and Afterlives of Gold in South Africa
What has gold done to people? What has it made them do? The Witwatersrand in South Africa,...
- $138.06 AUD
- $138.06 AUD
- Unit price
- per
SKU:
9780231216128
Product Type:
Books
Please hurry! Only 414 left in stock
Couldn't load pickup availability
What has gold done to people? What has it made them do? The Witwatersrand in South Africa, once home to the world's richest goldfields, is today scattered with abandoned mines into which informal miners known as zama zamas venture in an illicit--often deadly--search for ore. Based on field research conducted across more than twenty-five years around these mines, Unstable Ground reveals the worlds that gold made possible--and gold's profound costs for those who have lived in its shadow and dreamt of its transformative power.
From the vantage point of the closure of South Africa's gold mines, Rosalind C. Morris reconsiders their histories, beginning in the present and descending into the pasts that shaped them. Anchored in evocative descriptions of mining in the ruins, this book explores the social worlds built on gold and the lives that were remade and sometimes undone by the industry over a century and a half. Viewing this industry from its margins, against the backdrop of the cyanide revolution, the gold standard's demise, and recurrent sinkholes, as well as the insurrectionary protests and violence that continue to this day, it recasts the history of South Africa and the incomplete effort to overcome apartheid amid the transformations of the global economy. In writing that is by turns immersive, incisive, and poetic, Morris unearths a history that was born of imperial aspiration and that persists as a speculative mirage. Interweaving ethnography, history, personal testimony, and political thought with striking readings of South African literary texts, Unstable Ground is a work of extraordinary ambition and depth.Author: Rosalind C. Morris
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 03/04/2025
Pages: 656
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 2.19lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 1.45d
ISBN: 9780231216128
About the Author
Rosalind C. Morris is professor of anthropology at Columbia University. A writer, cultural critic, and documentary filmmaker, she has received numerous awards for her scholarly and artistic work, including a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Returns Policy
You may return most new, unopened items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.).
You should expect to receive your refund within four weeks of giving your package to the return shipper, however, in many cases you will receive a refund more quickly. This time period includes the transit time for us to receive your return from the shipper (5 to 10 business days), the time it takes us to process your return once we receive it (3 to 5 business days), and the time it takes your bank to process our refund request (5 to 10 business days).
If you need to return an item, simply login to your account, view the order using the "Complete Orders" link under the My Account menu and click the Return Item(s) button. We'll notify you via e-mail of your refund once we've received and processed the returned item.
Shipping
We can ship to virtually any address in the world. Note that there are restrictions on some products, and some products cannot be shipped to international destinations.
When you place an order, we will estimate shipping and delivery dates for you based on the availability of your items and the shipping options you choose. Depending on the shipping provider you choose, shipping date estimates may appear on the shipping quotes page.
Please also note that the shipping rates for many items we sell are weight-based. The weight of any such item can be found on its detail page. To reflect the policies of the shipping companies we use, all weights will be rounded up to the next full pound.
Best Sellers
- Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.