Collective Mobilization and the Struggle for Squatter Citizenship: Rereading “Xenophobic” Violence in a South African Settlement
Given the association between informal residence and the occurrence of “xenophobic” violence in South Africa, this article examines “xenophobic violence” through a political account of two squatter settlements across the transition to democracy: Jeffsville and Brazzaville on the informal periphery o...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Bielefeld
2016-04-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Conflict and Violence |
| Online Access: | https://www.ijcv.org/index.php/ijcv/article/view/3067 |
| _version_ | 1811266987688460288 |
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| author | Tamlyn Jane Monson |
| author_facet | Tamlyn Jane Monson |
| author_sort | Tamlyn Jane Monson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Given the association between informal residence and the occurrence of “xenophobic” violence in South Africa, this article examines “xenophobic violence” through a political account of two squatter settlements across the transition to democracy: Jeffsville and Brazzaville on the informal periphery of Atteridgeville, Gauteng. Using the concepts of political identity, living politics and insurgent citizenship, the paper mines past and present to explore identities, collective practices and expertise whose legacy can be traced in contemporary mobilization against foreigners, particularly at times of popular protest. I suggest that the category of the “surplus person”, which originated in the apartheid era, lives on in the unfinished transition of squatter citizens to formal urban inclusion in
contemporary South Africa. The political salience of this legacy of superfluity is magnified at times of protest, not only through the claims made on the state, but also through the techniques for protest mobilization, which both activate and manufacture identities based on common suffering and civic labour. In the informal settlements of Jeffsville and Brazzaville, these identities polarised insurgent citizens from non-citizen newcomers, particularly those traders whose business-as-usual practices during times of protest appeared as evidence of their indifference and lack of reciprocity precisely at times when shared suffering and commitment were produced as defining qualities of the squatter community. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T20:53:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-174a84f3fda54643876f3b2188d6a375 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1864-1385 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T20:53:15Z |
| publishDate | 2016-04-01 |
| publisher | University of Bielefeld |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Conflict and Violence |
| spelling | doaj.art-174a84f3fda54643876f3b2188d6a3752022-12-22T03:17:03ZengUniversity of BielefeldInternational Journal of Conflict and Violence1864-13852016-04-019110.4119/ijcv-3067Collective Mobilization and the Struggle for Squatter Citizenship: Rereading “Xenophobic” Violence in a South African SettlementTamlyn Jane Monson0Department of Sociology, London School of Economics; African Centre for Migration and Society, University of the WitwatersrandGiven the association between informal residence and the occurrence of “xenophobic” violence in South Africa, this article examines “xenophobic violence” through a political account of two squatter settlements across the transition to democracy: Jeffsville and Brazzaville on the informal periphery of Atteridgeville, Gauteng. Using the concepts of political identity, living politics and insurgent citizenship, the paper mines past and present to explore identities, collective practices and expertise whose legacy can be traced in contemporary mobilization against foreigners, particularly at times of popular protest. I suggest that the category of the “surplus person”, which originated in the apartheid era, lives on in the unfinished transition of squatter citizens to formal urban inclusion in contemporary South Africa. The political salience of this legacy of superfluity is magnified at times of protest, not only through the claims made on the state, but also through the techniques for protest mobilization, which both activate and manufacture identities based on common suffering and civic labour. In the informal settlements of Jeffsville and Brazzaville, these identities polarised insurgent citizens from non-citizen newcomers, particularly those traders whose business-as-usual practices during times of protest appeared as evidence of their indifference and lack of reciprocity precisely at times when shared suffering and commitment were produced as defining qualities of the squatter community.https://www.ijcv.org/index.php/ijcv/article/view/3067 |
| spellingShingle | Tamlyn Jane Monson Collective Mobilization and the Struggle for Squatter Citizenship: Rereading “Xenophobic” Violence in a South African Settlement International Journal of Conflict and Violence |
| title | Collective Mobilization and the Struggle for Squatter Citizenship: Rereading “Xenophobic” Violence in a South African Settlement |
| title_full | Collective Mobilization and the Struggle for Squatter Citizenship: Rereading “Xenophobic” Violence in a South African Settlement |
| title_fullStr | Collective Mobilization and the Struggle for Squatter Citizenship: Rereading “Xenophobic” Violence in a South African Settlement |
| title_full_unstemmed | Collective Mobilization and the Struggle for Squatter Citizenship: Rereading “Xenophobic” Violence in a South African Settlement |
| title_short | Collective Mobilization and the Struggle for Squatter Citizenship: Rereading “Xenophobic” Violence in a South African Settlement |
| title_sort | collective mobilization and the struggle for squatter citizenship rereading xenophobic violence in a south african settlement |
| url | https://www.ijcv.org/index.php/ijcv/article/view/3067 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tamlynjanemonson collectivemobilizationandthestruggleforsquattercitizenshiprereadingxenophobicviolenceinasouthafricansettlement |