Conflict and Concord

The book is a response to the dominant discourse of South Africa as unwelcoming to African immigrants. Acknowledging the reality of xenophobia against African migrants in South Africa, it explores the positive spaces of interactions between South Africans and African migrants that do not necessarily result in tension. Hence, the book is about conviviality, cohabitation, interdependency and the production of a multicultural rainbow nation. South Africa, its constitution and representation as a multicultural society is the perfect context to experiment with the ideas in the book. Part of the objectives is therefore to demonstrate, as contained in the title, the ambivalence of this relationship which the popular discourse of xenophobia has silenced.

Provides a balanced view of the migration/xenophobia phenomenon in South Africa Offers empirical suggestions on how to deal with the migration/xenophobia phenomenon Based on real-life experiences of immigrants from selected nations in the African continent

Auteur

Christopher Isike is a Professor of African Politics and International Relations at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He is the current President of the African Association of Political Science (AAPS) and Editor-in-Chief of Africa's foremost political science journal, Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies. Christopher also serves on the editorial board of several reputable international journals such as International Political Science Abstracts. He conducts research from an Africanist lens, and apart from African immigration to South Africa, Christopher's research interests include African soft power politics, peace and conflict studies, women and political representation in Africa, rethinking state formation in Africa, human factor development, and politics in a digital era. In 2020, he was appointed by the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture as a Social Cohesion Advocate of South Africa.

Efe Isike is currently a Policy and Development scholar and expert who coordinates the Mastercard Scholarship Program (MCSP) in the Department of Education Innovation at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Previously, she lectured for 7 years in the Department of Anthropology and Development Studies at the University of Zululand, South Africa. Her research interests include African Migration Studies, Gender and Development Studies and Conflict Transformation.

Contenu

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Understanding the contact, Conflict and Conviviality.- Chapter 3: Parties and Disparities in Applying Legislation/Policies from a World-Class National Constitution.- Chapter 4: Xenophobia against Nigerian Immigrants in South Africa: The Naijaphobia Perspective.- Chapter 5: Cyberspace Xenophobia in South Africa.- Chapter 6: From Paradise Gain to Paradise Loss: Xenophobia and Transformation in South African Universities.- Chapter 7: Language, Being, Belonging and Non-belonging in South Africa.- Chapter 8: Beyond Xenophobia: Migrants-Locals in Socio-Economic Spaces in South Africa.- Chapter 9: Foe, Friends or Both? Looking beyond Hostility in Relations between Congolese Migrants and South Africans in Empangeni.- Chapter 10: First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage? Exploring the Narratives and Experiences of South African Partners of Nigerian Male Immigrants in South Africa.- Chapter 11: How can Contact Foster Concord? An Analysis of Relations betweenMozambican and South Africans in Mpumalanga Province in South Africa.- Chapter 12: We Know Each Other: Analyzing Interactions between African International and Local Students in South African Universities.- Chapter 13: Conclusion: Contact, Concord and Social Cohesion in South Africa.