Paper long abstract:

The legacies of settler colonialism are ever present in contemporary life in South Africa: the coloniality-of-being shapes subjectivities as well as a wide range of practices (Maldonado-Torres 2007). These practices include forms of political protest that are employed strategically by South Africa's resurgent - and insurgent - social movements, ranging from #RMF to Abahlali Basemjondolo (Shack Dwellers movement), as well as diverse protests actions that are not linked to existing structures, but that are nevertheless carefully planned (and not spontaneous eruptions of discontent).

At the same time the post-apartheid period has seen increased global migrations from the global south. While we have seen growing movements of people across national borders, anti-migrant ideologies and practices have become more violent across the globe. In South Africa, the frequent acts of violence against migrants are not only concerning but our understandings of these are varied and highly contested. How do social movements negotiate the space between the growing calls for decolonization and the growing movements of people across (post)-colonial borders? This question assumes even more urgency today as humanity faces a global pandemic, COVID -19, which has exacerbated pre-existing inequalities and already limited resources in many countries of the global south. What can the black radical tradition tell us about the practices of those who live in 'liminal spaces' and 'zones of non being' (Biko 1978, Fanon 1952)? What are the possible spaces for an ethics of decolonization, where 'alternative life-activity' of the wretched is entangled with practices of solidarity 'in their own right' (Wynter 2006)?

In this paper I look at social movements in South Africa. I show how despite growing calls for decolonization; radical redistribution and competition over (scarce) resources, radical anti-colonial/decolonial African (social) movements have always put forward a radical concept of the human- at the center of their struggles. This holds true for the radical African anti-colonial movements in the past and the decolonial movements today. Central to my discussion is the careful analysis of a community protest that took place in a rural town in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province in 2015. In my analysis I follow this protest from the planning meetings in the township to the march through town, and the subsequent confrontation with members of the local government. I show how current realities of social marginalization are articulated with politically motivated - transgressions of cultural and gendered normativities, anti-nationalism intersectional solidarities.