Xenophobia

Journal of Asian and African Studies
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The Politics of Fear and the Fear of Politics: Reflections on Xenophobic Violence in South Africa
Michael Neocosmos Journal of Asian and African Studies 2008 43: 586 DOI: 10.1177/0021909608096655 The online version of this article can be found at: http://jas.sagepub.com/content/43/6/586

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The Politics of Fear and the Fear of Politics: Reflections on Xenophobic Violence in South Africa
Michael Neocosmos
Monash University, South Africa

Journal of Asian and African Studies Copyright © 2008 SAGE Publications www.sagepublications.com (Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC) Vol 43(6): 586–594 DOI: 10.1177/0021909608096655

Abstract
Reflecting on the causes of the recent xenophobic pogroms in South Africa, it is striking how most commentators have stressed poverty and deprivation as the underlying causes of the events. Yet it requires little effort to see that economic factors, however real, cannot possibly account for why it was those deemed to be non-South Africans who bore the brunt of the vicious attacks. Poverty can be and has historically been the foundation for the whole range of political ideologies, from communism to fascism and anything in between. In fact, poverty can only account for the powerlessness, frustration and desperation of the perpetrators, but not for their target. Why were not Whites, or the rich, or White foreigners in South Africa targeted instead? Of course, it is a common... [continues]

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