| ID | 109131 |
| Title Proper | Form, the permit and the photograph |
| Other Title Information | an archive of mobility between South Africa and India |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Dhupelia-Mesthrie, Uma |
| Publication | 2011. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Inspired by recent scholarship that calls for a more critical engagement with archives and knowledge production, this article plots the biography of an archive in Cape Town. Unravelling the layers of paperwork, it locates the origins of the archive in a repressive state project of excluding Indian immigrants and controlling those within the borders of the Cape Colony. The paper trail reveals documents of identity and the state's attempts to verify identity. In seeking to answer the question as to how the historian should approach such an archive of control and surveillance, it concludes that a social history and gendered approach to migration is possible and the real treasures are those documents that enter the archive beyond the limits of state intentions. |
| `In' analytical Note | Journal of Asian and African Studies Vol. 46, No. 6; Dec 2011: p.650-662 |
| Journal Source | Journal of Asian and African Studies Vol. 46, No. 6; Dec 2011: p.650-662 |
| Key Words | Archive ; Identification Practices ; Immigration ; India ; Mobility ; Social History ; South Africa ; Cape Town |