Race, railways, and the long-term legacy effects of concentration camps: evidence from South Africa

Drawing upon detailed data on more than 120 concentration camps employed by the British in southern Africa during the Second Boer War (1899–1902), we examine the long-term legacies of these camps on trust and mobilisation in modern-day South Africa. Using geocoded Afrobarometer survey data, we assess whether contemporary attitudes vary relative to individual respondents’ proximity to historical British concentration camps. We distinguish between camps where the British detained white Boer/Afrikaner populations, Black African populations, or both, to trace motivations for modern attitudes across race and ethnic dimensions. To account for the non-random placement of camps along newly built and developing colonial railway lines, we compare locations that historically housed camps with those along the railway that did not. We find evidence that in areas which previously hosted camps, populations remain subject to heightened in-group/out-group dynamics and are more distrustful of one another. Additionally, residents in these areas are more likely to participate in political activities benefiting the in-group. This work contributes to a growing literature on the long-term effects of state repression on social and political dynamics.