The Observation And Report On The Fence By The LC De Villiers Residences
This fence has been build or is surrounding the Tuks residences for a while and although they may seem like just fences they play a very interesting role in the lives of whom it affects. So in this essay I will be locating, observing and overall analyzing this fence. There are definitely, contrasting times at which the fence is most relevant and times when it isn’t bothering. This then was the result of me interviewing and researching deeper about this fence other than just my simple and pure observation. Looking into it will also help me identify the different concepts that it may relate to, for example how I can link accumulation by dispassion, commons and enclosure to this certain reading. This fence has an entrance and this entrance is right by the corner of Duxbury street and Lunnon road, the entrance has been recently renovated to a much more classier and safer entrance. The fence is made up of metal fork like sticks, these sticks are lined up and form the fence.
There isn’t much spacing in between the sticks but it’s possible for just a leg to fit. Although the residences do have multiple entrances this is the most common and definitely the most used at night time. The fence stretches for a long distance but the part of it that I am focusing on is the Duxbury/Lynwood side of the fence and this is due to that I have seen that the most ‘action’ or traffic is on that side. During the day the fence is very quiet and students use the new entrance and the bus service goes through when transporting students. Yet the fence has a completely different ‘use’ when it is night time. From the research I have done and from what I have experienced personally, the fence has and has had two different meanings. Before the big renovation, the fence had a turnstile going in and out of Lynwood road and yet when students went out to party on Lynwood road, after the parties there would be students that jumped over the turnstile. There were also rumors that, that is how boys brought in girls to spend the night. (the residences are mainly boys’ there is only 2 all-female residence and another bi-gender residence. ) then apparently this is what caused the university to react and the turnstile was removed. Now that the turnstile is gone, the students felt betrayed and it was a joke that even turned into a meme. Because this turnstile that helped people get home quicker, that helped people sneak others in and all has been taken away. But what the fence is now is that its still a way and place where people (if drunk enough) still jump over so they can get to their residences quicker and its very safe to say that there are definitely less people who jump over due to the now intimidating and dangerous look of the fence. The new entrance is now the most used part of the fence. It has a lot of security and if an outsider wants to go in, a person who resides in the residences has to let them in or they need a valid enough excuse for the guard. Although the new entrance is nice and has a lot od advancements, most people that have been asked and interviewed think it was a waste of money.
How? You may ask, it said that the entrance before that was just fine and instead of the university renovating it and making it such a big ‘spaceship’ they could’ve directed the money towards a student that needed it. if we are honest the university does have a lot of students that struggle financially and if slight changes were made to the entrance it would have been fine but a whole renovation is a different story. Some were even concerned over the fact of “are all these renovations going to affect our fees?” or “does all this renovation money come from us?” and “the school can build a whole spaceship but cannot support a few students that need it?” (Anonymous, 2018) these were the questions asked and thrown during conversations and discussions. Which then lead me to asking myself is this then a form of Accumulation by Dispossession? Furthermore, not forgetting that the fence is actually and essentially a fence and it is meant to act as a way to safeguard and protect what it is surrounding. So in defense of the people that removed the turnstile, their goal and intentions were to keep the property safe and although most may think that people that jumped over were harmless, we actually never really know who could jump and what their real intentions were with being in the property. So now people that wish to visit have to get through the right steps and fewer people are actually jumping over. Which is what is meant to happen. So is this a way of relating to the concept of commons? In terms of commons, enclosure and accumulation by dispossession the fence does relate on some terms but I feel as though it relates more to enclosure than most of the concepts. Enclosure was what was used as form of protecting and hiding away the common because it really isn’t a common anymore. It is now owned and not part of what can be shared by the public.
A common being a place that is shared by the common people and for a common use, sort of dies relate to the university, it isn’t just an open place for everyone though but it is a place where we all share a common interest which is getting world class education. To a certain point, the university does to a point share the traits of being a common but it is not overused to the point of it having a tragedy because there is this fence that has been created and built to show that as well. “Capitalism is a disparate and far-reaching set of processes of exploitation, alienation and displacement, and enclosure is only one of its rubrics, and yet, we need to attempt to map capital’s diverse present precisely because capitalism itself continues to relentlessly expand, reproduce itself, intensify and connect different domains of politics, economy, culture and ecology. ” (Alex Jeffrey, 2012)Enclosure is just a way to secure private property and to basically put it out there that the place is called for and it has an owner, in this perspective the fence is doing its ‘job’ because it is put there to enclose on UP’s students and workers and to keep out any trespassers from coming in, which is why when you want to enter it’s the whole notion of scanning your UP student card, then an even further strain of then scanning your fingerprint. This just goes to show that the land is for a reason and is kept for the owners and maybe those granted entry.
On a accumulation by dispossession point of view, the university privatizes the land then put and enclosure on the land to show their possession and power over it, only to use it so profits can be made from charging students to live there. They aren’t necessarily taking asset from us and dispossessing us but there is still a form of them using the land that is enclosure for profits. Correspondingly, such a big construction/ renovations leaves us students in a pickle because we don’t know if all these big renovations and projects are going to benefit or cost us in the future. Things could just be merely upgraded and maintained but not fully reconstructed. There has been a question of, instead of building so many entrances and parking lots, we could redirect the money towards building a new residence for the students, because although there are lots of students in residences there aren’t enough compared to how big the university is. In conclusion, the fence is a very important part of the student’s life in terms of safety and reassurance that no outsiders can get in easily.
Also, that the fence does as well play in interesting role (that really wasn’t expected or even catered for) at night during times which students go to the clubs on Lynwood road. That sort of shows that although they have control on the fence and the way it functions, there are always unexpected and uncatered for events. then in terms of the discussed, we do see a hint of theses different concepts in the fence and I’m sure we can relate them to the fence but the most relating concept was of course the enclosure. The enclosure already being that I am observing a fence and a fences primary point or use is to create enclosures around land that isn’t for the public. The material and look of the fence already radiates a very hard and protective ambiance, so it definitely does ‘do its job’. In terms of causing an enclosure and keeping the ones that aren’t allowed in, it also has great management and control.
