Migration, Crisis and Temporality at the Zimbabwe–South Africa Border
Governing Immobilities
By Kudakwashe Vanyoro
ISBN
978-1529225815Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University PressISBN
978-1529225822Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University PressISBN
978-1529225822Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University Press
Migration, Crisis and Temporality at the Zimbabwe–South Africa Border
Only 15 kilometres away from the border of Zimbabwe, Musina is an obscure town in South Africa that the media cast into the public eye in the wake of the 2008 Zimbabwean economic crisis.
Taking as its starting point the arrival of thousands of displaced Zimbabwean migrants at Musina, this book presents valuable new perspectives on the temporality of migration and the governance of immobilities. The author explores the role of humanitarian actors in supporting migrants and examines the outcomes of government-led activities in the longer term.
This is an insightful assessment of how state and non-state practices intertwine in the management of largely immobile people, and of the importance of time in understanding African migration and borders.
“A brilliant critical border intervention on the politics of Southern African mobility and its governance.” Xolani Tshabalala, Linköping University
"Vanyoro actively engages in discussions on important issues including immigration reforms, migration governance, humanitarianism, border securitization, xenophobia, sovereignty, citizenship and national identity in the southern African sub-region and particularly the nation of South Africa." Cultural Studies Journal
“This meticulously researched and beautifully written book offers a superb and much-needed study of the politics and practices of humanitarian borderwork on the Zimbabwe–South Africa border.” Polly Pallister-Wilkins, University of Amsterdam
Kudakwashe Vanyoro is Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at the University of the Witwatersrand. He was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the university’s African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) (2021–3).
Introduction: Zimbabwe’s Crisis and Immobilities
1. Critical Perspectives on African Borders
2. Contesting and Politicising the Zimbabwean Crisis
3. Governing the Crisis at The Zimbabwe-South Africa Border Through Humanitarian Interventions
4. Humanitarian Politics: Ambivalence and Undecidabilities of the Border
5. ‘Laughing at Them in Silence’: Life in the Men’s Transit Shelter
6. ‘This Place is a Bus Stop’: Temporalities of Zimbabwean Migrant Men Waiting at the Transit Shelter
Conclusion: Bringing Time to the Study of Migration Governance and Borders in Africa
