The spatial politics of xenophobia: everyday practices of Congolese migrants in Johannesburg

Abstract

The scale and brutality of the May 2008 xenophobic attacks in South Africa elicited among domestic and international onlookers a sense of horror and shock. These attacks were prefigured by multiple instances of xenophobic violence throughout the country in the preceding years. This paper argues that it is necessary to understand some of the forces underlying these attacks through the situated practices of migrants. This article focuses on some of the everyday practices of migrants in South African cities surrounding access to housing as well as more general experiences of violence, exclusion, and mobility within the city. Focusing on migrant perceptions of safety within the city, volatility of housing conditions, the racialisation of space through resurgent forms of cultural racism, state surveillance through identity documentation and policing, and the role of Pentecostal churches in renegotiating belonging in the city, this paper offers some first steps toward developing an analysis of xenophobia attentive to everyday practice and points to potential areas for future research. This paper asks what sorts of challenges the foregoing analysis presents to existing analyses of African cities, in particular the work of AbdouMaliq Simone.

A(nother) geography of fear: Burmese labour migrants in George Town, Malaysia

“…In previous studies on the fear of crime it is suggested that fear in the city is influenced by notions of who is regarded as 'different' in various social contexts (England and Simon, 2010). Similar claims are made in studies focusing particularly upon migrants' fear -both in relation to the way that being recognised as a 'foreigner' may increase the risk of racist and xenophobic attacks (Greenburg, 2010;Kwan, 2008) but also because it may attract the attention of the local police or immigration authorities (Greenburg, 2010;Holgersson, 2011;Lang, 2002). Greenburg (2010: 70) therefore proposes that 'where one can be in the city and how one moves about is radically circumscribed by how one's body is marked by foreignness' (emphasis in original).…”

“…But a few studies have also illustrated how regular migrants are sometimes fearful of encounters with host state authorities – and in particular the local police. In her study of Congolese migrants in Johannesburg, Greenburg (2010) for example illustrates how the practices of the South African police force – and in particular the continuous identity controls performed in the streets – work to induce fear and restrict the mobility of migrants in the city. Lang (2002), in her study of Burmese migrants and refugees in Thailand, further illustrates how police corruption make migrants frightened when moving about in public.…”

“…In order to restrict movement in public space, many migrants live in close proximity to their workplaces – within walking or biking distance, and some (where the employer provided lodging) live in their actual workplace. Many also move if they change their work location (see also Greenburg, 2010).…”

“…3 But it also includes those who are temporary legal residents in the city – who, despite their legal right to remain, may face restrictions in civil, social and political rights due to their status as ‘low-skilled’ and temporary foreign workers (see for example: Baines and Sharma 2002; Nah, 2012). 4 This fundamental distinction between ‘citizens and “others”’ as ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ (Peutz and De Genova, 2010: 14) is important for how urban space is perceived and navigated (Greenburg, 2010). It produces, this study suggests, an(other) urban geography of fear: in which spatial strategies are not primarily developed in response to the fear of crime, with which previous scholarship has been much preoccupied, but rather in response to the fear of state institutional practices – such as police controls, roadblocks, raids, detention and deportation.…”

Dynamics informing xenophobia and leadership response in South Africa

“…A cautious assessment of the construction of xenophobia in South Africa shows that reducing it to discourses and practices of discrimination against foreign nationals is simplistic and inadequate (Landau 2011). There have been South African nationals who have been victims of attacks solely because of their linguistic habitus or even physical appearance (Greenburg 2010;Hassim, Kupe & Worby 2008, Polzer 2010. Landau (2011) and Steinberg (2008) cite cases of attacks motivated by the ethnic appearance of Mozambicans.…”