Presenter: Dr Jean Pierre Misago
Date: 12 March 2025
Time: 12.20 – 13.30
Venue: ACMS Seminar Room: Room 2163, Solomon Mahlangu House (2nd floor), East Campus, Wits University (directions)
Zoom: link
Please register: here

Abstract:
Drawing on extensive and comparative qualitative data from a nearly two-decade long and ongoing research, this paper responds to inadequacies and limitations of current causal explanations for xenophobic violence in South Africa. It argues that existing explanations are inadequate as many lack empirical backing and others are incomplete due to their reductionist approach. To address these shortcomings, this paper proposes an empirically based and theoretically informed multideterminant (explanatory) model, which identifies and analyses the roles of – and interconnections between – six key determinants namely: i) socio-economic and political deprivation, ii) xenophobic beliefs, iii) collective discontent, iv) political economy, v) mobilization, and vi) governance. The paper argues that i) these determinants and their interconnections in a value-added process constitute the necessary and sufficient conditions for the occurrence of xenophobic violence, and ii) this multideterminant model consequently provides an adequate and comprehensive explanation of the xenophobic violence in South Africa.

Bio:
Dr Jean Pierre Misago is a Senior Researcher at the Africa Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) at Wits University. His research interests include migration, identity and belonging; xenophobia and related violence; as well as migration governance at different levels but particularly at local government and community level (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6964-3926).