Making whiteness work in South Africa: A translabour approach

SynopisThis paper compares the working lives of different generations of British expatriate women living in Johannesburg, South Africa. The city has strong and established transnational connections with Europe and consequently has a substantial population of white, highly skilled professionals who have come to take advantage of the benefits that South Africa has consistently delivered to whiteness. However, now nearly twenty years since the post-apartheid Government came into office, an important question to ask is how aims for racial equality are playing out in everyday life. This paper explores this question by drawing on new research evidence which looks at the changing labour market fortunes of British women migrants in South Africa. I argue that whilst the resources of whiteness/Britishness are becoming increasingly less certain, contemporary migrants may still draw upon their transnational advantages to maintain their expectations of cultural and economic privilege.

► A new translabour approach is developed.
► Two different generations of women migrants to South Africa are compared.
► The relationship between gender, race, nationality and work is examined.
► White advantage in South African labour market is marked by both continuity and change.