"They steal our jobs and they steal our women" - An exploration of women's negotiation of xenophobia and violence in South Africa

“他们偷走了我们的工作，他们偷走了我们的妇女”——对南非妇女仇外心理和暴力谈判的探索

• 批准号: 1904266
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Edinburgh
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2017 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-1904266
• 关键词: They; steal; our; jobs; they

In 2008 and again in 2015, mass violence directed at foreign nationals broke out across South Africa, with collectively 70 people reported dead, hundreds injured, dozens raped and hundreds of thousands displaced (Hiropoulos, 2015; Misago et al, 2015). Since then, violence termed 'xenophobic' has claimed additional lives in the country every year (Misago et al, 2015). In the UK, following the economic crisis of 2008, and during the divisive campaigns over the EU referendum in 2016, public discourses and behaviours towards foreign nationals has turned increasingly hostile. The number of 'hate crimes' recorded by the police rose by 29% between 2015 and 2016, while offences described as 'racially aggravated' by the Home Office and linked to reports of xenophobia increased by 41% (O'Neill, 2017; Rzepnikowska, 2018). Political and mainstream media narratives and academic literature often focus on the violence associated with xenophobia, placing men in the foreground of these debates, whilst women's perspectives, roles and experiences are neglected (see Morrice 2016; Sigsworth et al, 2008 for exceptions). In media reports and in academia, women are mostly positioned as silent victims or vulnerable bystanders, mothers or relatives or passive targets of spectacular xenophobic violence (Maluleke, 2015; Akinola, 2017). In environments known for high and under-reported levels of gender-based and domestic violence , this positioning only serves to silence women and render them as victims.As women constitute approximately 48% of migrants in South Africa, 52% in the UK, and more than 50% of the populations in both countries (Hiralal, 2017; Rienzo & Vargas-Silva, 2017), the lack of attention to a diversity of women's experiences restricts an accurate understanding of xenophobia. Contextualised by 'thick' ethnographic description (Mills et al, 2010) and grounded in South African and British historical and feminist literature, my PhD research examines how xenophobia manifests in the quotidian lives and spaces of different women living in two multicultural cities; Johannesburg in South Africa and London in Britain. The study interrogates the relationship between gender and xenophobia, exploring how women in two socio-economically diverse spaces within these cities navigate discrimination based on nationality, broadening the scope beyond violence to understand the impacts on women's daily lives, communities and livelihoods. This study uses the conceptual framework of intersectionality to examine how interconnecting identities and social locations can multiply to discriminate against women (Bouilly et al, 2016; Gouws, 2017: 20). By examining how these experiences shape women's relationships - with other women, with men, and with social structures and institutions, the study will produce a nuanced socio-anthropological understanding of modern xenophobia for a broad audience. Using a mixed methodology of in-depth interviews, participant observations and arts-based methods, the aim is to create a safe space for participant women to process their experiences of quotidian xenophobia, providing meaning about complex social realities and 'everyday', embodied and emotional experiences (Bagnoli, 2009; Fraser and al-Sayah, 2011 in Stavropolou, 2018). Informed by conflict resolution literature, and my training in mediation (Thomas, 2016; Behfar et al, 2008; O'Brien, 2005) the aim is to address conflict in an emotionally literate and sensitive way (Orbach, 2016). Through supportively sharing and unpacking their experiences together, participants develop new interpretations or enhance feelings of empathy with each other, as well as provide insights into contemporary xenophobia. In two environments marked by fraught, national debates about migration and rights, this research will go beyond homogenous narratives, recognising the complexity and diversity of the migrant and black, female experience.

2008年和2015年，南非各地爆发了针对外国人的大规模暴力事件，据报共有70人死亡，数百人受伤，数十人被强奸，数十万人流离失所（Hiropoulos，2015; Misago et al，2015）。从那时起，被称为“仇外”的暴力每年都在该国夺走更多的生命（Misago等人，2015）。在英国，继2008年经济危机之后，以及在2016年欧盟公投的分裂运动期间，公众对外国公民的言论和行为变得越来越敌对。2015年至2016年，警方记录的“仇恨犯罪”数量增加了29%，而内政部描述为“种族加重”的罪行以及与仇外心理报告有关的罪行增加了41%（奥尼尔，2017; Rzepnikowska，2018）。政治和主流媒体的叙事和学术文献往往集中在与仇外心理相关的暴力上，将男性置于这些辩论的前台，而女性的观点，角色和经历则被忽视（见Morrice 2016; Sigsworth等人，2008例外）。在媒体报道和学术界，妇女大多被定位为沉默的受害者或脆弱的旁观者、母亲或亲属，或严重仇外暴力的被动目标（Maluleke，2015年; Akinola，2017年）。在众所周知的基于性别的暴力和家庭暴力的高水平和低水平的环境中，这种定位只会使妇女沉默，使她们成为受害者。（Hiralal，2017年; Rienzo & Vargas-Silva，2017年），缺乏对女性经历多样性的关注限制了对仇外心理的准确理解。由“厚”民族志描述（米尔斯等人，2010年）和接地在南非和英国的历史和女权主义文学的背景下，我的博士研究探讨如何仇外心理表现在生活在两个多元文化的城市，不同的妇女生活和空间;南非约翰内斯堡和英国伦敦。该研究探讨了性别与仇外心理之间的关系，探讨了这些城市中两个社会经济多样化空间的妇女如何应对基于国籍的歧视，扩大了暴力的范围，以了解对妇女日常生活、社区和生计的影响。这项研究使用交叉性的概念框架来研究相互关联的身份和社会位置如何增加对女性的歧视（Bouilly et al，2016; Gouws，2017：20）。通过研究这些经历如何塑造女性与其他女性、男性以及社会结构和机构的关系，该研究将为广大受众提供对现代仇外心理的细致入微的社会人类学理解。使用深度访谈，参与者观察和基于艺术的方法的混合方法，目的是为参与者创造一个安全的空间，让女性处理他们对埃塞俄比亚仇外心理的经历，提供关于复杂社会现实和“日常”的意义，具体和情感体验（Bagnoli，2009; Fraser和al-Sayah，2011在Stavropolou，2018）。通过冲突解决文献和我的调解培训（托马斯，2016; Behfar et al，2008;奥布莱恩，2005），目的是以情感素养和敏感的方式解决冲突（Orbach，2016）。通过共同分享和分析他们的经历，参与者形成了新的解释或增强了彼此的同情心，并提供了对当代仇外心理的见解。在两个充满关于移民和权利的全国性辩论的环境中，这项研究将超越同质化的叙述，认识到移民和黑人女性经历的复杂性和多样性。