The Politics of Fear and the Fear of Politics: Reflections on Xenophobic Violence in South Africa
The Politics of Fear and the Fear of Politics: Reflections on Xenophobic Violence in South Africa
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恐惧的政治和对政治的恐惧：对南非仇外暴力的反思
DOI：
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发表时间：
2008
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影响因子：
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通讯作者：
M. Neocosmos
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
M. Neocosmos
在反思最近南非仇外大屠杀的原因时，令人惊讶的是，大多数评论家都强调贫穷和剥夺是这些事件的根本原因。然而，不难看出，经济因素无论多么真实，都不可能解释为什么那些被认为是非南非人的人首当其冲地遭受了恶毒的袭击。从历史上看，贫穷可以是各种政治意识形态的基础，从共产主义到法西斯主义，以及介于两者之间的任何东西。事实上，贫穷只能解释犯罪者的无能为力、沮丧和绝望，而不能解释他们的目标。为什么南非的白人、富人或白人外国人没有成为攻击目标？当然，无权者经常把他们的不满发泄在最弱者身上——妇女、儿童、老人——以及局外人——这是很常见的事情。然而，这不足以作为一个解释。根据流行的刻板印象，对那些被认为是外国人的有系统和有组织的攻击需要更多的解释，而无能为力可能是一个重要的因素。
Reflecting on the causes of the recent xenophobic pogroms in South Africa, it is striking how most commentators have stressed poverty and deprivation as the underlying causes of the events. Yet it requires little effort to see that economic factors, however real, cannot possibly account for why it was those deemed to be non-South Africans who bore the brunt of the vicious attacks. Poverty can be and has historically been the foundation for the whole range of political ideologies, from communism to fascism and anything in between. In fact, poverty can only account for the powerlessness, frustration and desperation of the perpetrators, but not for their target. Why were not Whites, or the rich, or White foreigners in South Africa targeted instead? Of course, it is a common occurrence that the powerless regularly take out their frustrations on the weakest: women, children, the elderly — and outsiders. Yet this will not suffice as an explanation. The systematic and concerted attacks on those deemed to be foreign according to popular stereotypes requires more of an explanation than powerlessness can provide, however important a factor that may have been.