Xenophobia? Moral Economy, Ethical-Moral Rights, and Citizenship Dilemmas in South Africa

Abstract

In this paper we argue the inadequacy of xenophobia to account for violence against foreigners in South Africa. With the notions of fetishising of origins and vandalism, scholars cast violations against the rights of immigrants as psychiatric disturbs and barbarism, clichés about Africa. Via the ethnography of the Tshwane Riots (2016), we show that the ransacking of Pakistani businesses in an informal settlement in Pretoria followed local laws. We interpret these attacks as a political strategy and a sovereign dispute between the African National Congress (ANC) and its organic constituency.

Keywords

• xenofobia, pluralismo jurídico, soberania, cidadania, áfrica do sul