Paper short abstract:

Based on my ethnographic research among South African land activists, I explore how the engagement with fallen comrades entwines meaningful spiritual, social and political practices to rearrange activist agency, relationships, affects and temporalities in their ongoing struggle.

Paper long abstract:

Khenana is a socialist commune in an extremely violent environment in Mayville, one of Durban's townships. Convinced of their right to land, to the city and to a life in dignity as Black impoverished people in post-apartheid South Africa, Khenana's land activists occupied unused urban land with the support of the shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo. The battle over land in Durban regularly claims activist lives. Those wo were killed in the struggle are considered as amadlozi (ancestors) who remain present and approachable. Having changed their modes of being in the world, and now equipped with a different kind of agency, they continue to play a crucial part in the struggle. As the activists keep engaging with their fallen comrades, they do more than preserving memories.

In this presentation, I discuss how the engagement with late comrades interweaves meaningful practices from spiritual, social and political repertoires. These doings foster an affective commitment to shared activist values and to the land that has been soaked with the blood of their fallen comrades - a bonding which is both, a source of strength and a burden. I explore how the cultivating of ancestral relationships, the rearrangement of agency and the reshuffling of temporalities can inform our approach to activist memory.