Living Politics in South Africa’s Urban Shacklands

While much has been written on post-apartheid social movements in South Africa, most discussion centers on ideal forms of movements, disregarding the reality and agency of the activists themselves. In Living Politics, Kerry Ryan Chance radically flips the conversation by focusing on the actual language and humanity of post-apartheid activists rather than the external, idealistic commentary of old. Tracking everyday practices and interactions between poor residents and state agents in South Africa’s shack settlements, Chance investigates the rise of nationwide protests since the late 1990s. Based on ethnography in Durban, Cape Town, and Johannesburg, the book analyzes the criminalization of popular forms of politics that were foundational to South Africa’s celebrated democratic transition. Chance argues that we can best grasp the increasingly murky line between “the criminal” and “the political” with a “politics of living” that casts slum and state in opposition to one another. Living Politics shows us how legitimate domains of politics are redefined, how state sovereignty is forcibly enacted, and how the production of new citizen identities crystallize at the intersections of race, gender, and class.

While much has been written on post-apartheid social movements in South Africa, most discussion centers on ideal forms of movements, disregarding the reality and agency of the activists themselves. In Living Politics, Kerry Ryan Chance radically flips the conversation by focusing on the actual language and humanity of post-apartheid activists rather than the external, idealistic commentary of old.Tracking everyday practices and interactions between poor residents and state agents in South Africa's shack settlements, Chance investigates the rise of nationwide protests since the late 1990s. Based on ethnography in Durban, Cape Town, and Johannesburg, the book analyzes the criminalization of popular forms of politics that were foundational to South Africa's celebrated democratic transition. Chance argues that we can best grasp the increasingly murky line between "the criminal" and "the political" with a "politics of living" that casts slum and state in opposition to one another. Living Politics shows us how legitimate domains of politics are redefined, how state sovereignty is forcibly enacted, and how the production of new citizen identities crystallize at the intersections of race, gender, and class.

Preface Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction: Elements of Living Politics Fire / Umlilo 1 “Where There Is Fire, There Is Politics”: The Material Life of Governance Water / Amanzi 2 Debts of Liberal State Transition: Liquid Belonging and Consumer Citizenship Air / Umoya 3 Coughing Out the City: Everyday Healing in the Toxic Borderlands Land / Umhlaba 4 Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust: How Territorial Informality Builds Future Cities Modular Elements 5 “The Anger of the Poor Can Go in Many Directions”: Rematerializing Identity and Difference Conclusion: Liberal Governance and the Urban Poor Revisited Notes References Index Contents 6 Preface 8 Acknowledgments 10 List of Abbreviations 14 Introduction: Elements of Living Politics 18 1. “Where There Is Fire, There Is Politics”: The Material Life of Governance 42 2. Debts of Liberal State Transition: Liquid Belonging and Consumer Citizenship 60 3. Coughing Out the City: Everyday Healing in the Toxic Borderlands 80 4. Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust: How Territorial Informality Builds Future Cities 102 5. “The Anger of the Poor Can Go in Many Directions”: Rematerializing Identity and Difference 124 Conclusion: Liberal Governance and the Urban Poor Revisited 150 Notes 164 References 182 Index 196 'Living Politics in South Africa's Urban Shacklands' examines liberal governance and political mobilization through the elements of fire, water, air, and land. Tracking everyday practices and interactions between poor residents and state agents in South Africa's shack settlements, the author investigates the rise of nationwide protests since the late 1990s, which have focused on making urban environments viable and secure