1st Edition
Political Values and Narratives of Resistance Social Justice and the Fractured Promises of Post-colonial States
This book brings together multidisciplinary perspectives to explore how political values and acts of resistance impact the delivery of social justice in post-colonial states.
Everyday life in post-colonial states, such as South Africa and Zimbabwe, is characterized by injustices that have both a historical and contemporary nature. From fishers in Cape Town accused of poaching, to residents of Bulawayo demanding access to water, this book focuses on the relationship between the state and groups that have been historically oppressed due to being on the margins of the political, economic and social system. It draws on empirical research from 12 scholars looking at cases in Brazil, India, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Chapters explore questions such as what citizens, especially those from marginalized groups, want from the state. The book looks at the political values of citizens and how these are formed in the process of engaging with the state and through everyday injustices. It also asks why and how citizens resist the state, with examples of protest, as well as less visible forms of resistance reflecting complex histories and power relations. Finally, the book explores how narratives and counter-narratives reveal the nature of political values and perceptions of what is just. Taken together these elements show the evolution of post-colonial social contracts.
Examining important themes in political science, anthropology, sociology and urban geography, this book will appeal to scholars and students interested in political values, justice, social movements and resistance.
1. Surfacing Political Values: Narratives of Justice in Cape Town, South Africa
Joanna Wheeler
2. Silent Citizens and Resistant Texts: Reading Hidden Narratives
Nobukhosi Ngwenya and Bettina von Lieres
3. The Politics of Patience and Moral Economy in Post-Apartheid South Africa
S. J. Cooper Knock
4. Fractured Social Contracts: Protest and Poaching in Cape Town, South Africa
Fiona Anciano
5. Spectators of Protest: Concerns from an Online Neighbourhood Facebook Group
Yusra Price
6. ‘This Is Our Water!’ – The Politics of Locality and the Commons in the City of Bulawayo
Mmeli Dube and Katharina Schramm
7. The Social Contract, the State and Adivasi Protests Against Large Scale Mining in India
Ranjita Mohanty
8. Claiming Agency By Telling a Counter-Story in Court: Adivasis v. 'Encounter' Killings in India
Shylashri Shankar
9. Including the Excluded: Interests and Values in the Brazilian Public Health Care System
Vera Schattan Coelho
10. Negotiating Foreign Policy from Below: Voice, Participation and Protest
Laura Waisbich
Biography
Fiona Anciano is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Studies at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Her research areas include civil society, democracy, and urban politics.
Joanna Wheeler is a Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellow at the Centre for Trust, Peace, and Social Relations, Coventry University and Senior Research Fellow, Department of Political Studies, University of Western Cape. Her research interests include citizen participation and inclusion, gender and violence in urban contexts, and storytelling and participatory visual methodologies.