Xenophobia in Africa

[Gary Aaron]

Kersting, Norbert. “New Nationalism and Xenophobia in Africa: A New Inclination?” Africa Spectrum, vol. 44, no. 1, 2009, pp. 7–18. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40175267.

[Charlie C]

In this article, author Norbert Kersting discusses the mob violence inspired by xenophobia in South Africa, and how it relates to the issue of nationalism.  He describes the violence itself and its effect on not only migrants, but the state of the nation of South Africa as a whole.  There is a nationalism that is deeply embedded in the South African state, which extends not only to anti-colonialism but territorial nationalism toward other states in Africa.  There is a narrative of nationalism that is repeated throughout South Africa in symbols and media, which causes citizens to have a sense of identity that does not necessarily align with pre-apartheid South Africa.  I thought that this article was very helpful to learning about the current social and political situation in South Africa by going in-depth on how nationalism relates to it all.