Melusi Nkomo | Princeton University (original) (raw)

Papers by Melusi Nkomo

Africa, 2024

Gabrielle Hecht has authored a book that exudes an exceptionally assured tone, replete with bold ... more Gabrielle Hecht has authored a book that exudes an exceptionally assured tone, replete with bold assertions. One of these assertions is that 'even after apartheid ended officially, it remained embedded in infrastructures and environments, acquiring new life, causing new harms, and sparking new modes of resistance and refusal' (p. 5). But even readers with a cursory understanding of Southern African politics and history are probably acquainted with this account of apartheid's recalcitrance and the resistance it engenders, especially among the still impoverished poor and black communities. This is because the story has been told dozens of times in a variety of formats, including in scholarly works, films, theatrical productions, art exhibitions and the praxis of grassroots 'social justice' movements, some of which are celebrated internationally, such as the Abahlali baseMjondolo shack dwellers' movement and Treatment Actions Campaign, among others. Long ago, sociologist Patrick Bond warned us that the shift from official apartheid to the then new South Africa was an 'elite transition', whose governance and policy practices occasionally incorporated 'the worst aspects of neoapartheid practice with neoliberal principles'. 1 Hecht anticipated this inevitable and obvious objection to her work, so she carved her own niche out of the story of apartheid's persistence and stubbornness, albeit in an unofficial form, by focusing on residual governance in Gauteng Province, the beating heart of South Africa's mining industry for the last century and a half. Residual governance for Hecht is a three-pronged concept that explains: 'The governance of waste and discards', 'Minimalist governance that uses simplification, ignorance, and delay as core tactics' and 'Governance that treats people and places as waste and wastelands' (p. 6). One of the book's main arguments, set out in the Introduction, is that residual governance is a technopolitical instrument of political power that serves racial capitalism and presents itself in a variety of political, legal, financial, spatial planning and public service infrastructures. It is precisely here that a broader argument concerning the Anthropocene's colonialism and racism emerges. The Anthropocene is not apolitical, and any credible explanation of it 'must account for systemic racism and ecocide in tandem' (p. 11). This is why studying the mining industry in South Africa, its anthropogenic destruction, and the human and material residues left in its trail provides a lens for understanding the crisis of the Anthropocene, and indeed that of capitalism itself. Chapters 1 to 5 and the Conclusion lay bare the historical and present challenges but also point to recuperation. This culminates in Hecht's projections about planetary futures, and the social struggles surrounding residual governance, which will undoubtedly continue for some time. Hecht exposes apartheid and the racial and capitalist machinations of both the state and the mining industry, which come in the form of social and spatial engineering and, more insidiously, manufactured ignorance to suppress knowledge about the extent of residual damage (in material and human terms). She also lauds the many efforts of individual activists (such as the ubiquitous Mariette Liefferink and Jeffrey Ramoruti) and affected communities in Gauteng.

Journal of Peasant Studies, 2024

This research examines the processes through which labour power is socially reproduced and acquir... more This research examines the processes through which labour power is socially reproduced and acquired within the agrarian contexts of Kwekwe district in central Zimbabwe, characterised by smallholder agriculture and artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). It uses the social reproduction lens to argue that in such contexts, conceptions of labour (and work) and value(s) attributed to them frequently change within a complex network of social relationships, interactions, roles/tasks, and subjective ideas. The intricate web of social and cultural interactions, exchanges, and dependencies shape the processes of labour acquisition, exploitation, valorisation, and reproduction, extending beyond mere productivist and economistic perspectives.

Revue Internationale de Politique de Développement, Apr 1, 2023

The Extractive Industries and Society, Sep 1, 2022

Numerous studies concur that artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) has had a significant impact ... more Numerous studies concur that artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) has had a significant impact on Africa's livelihoods, environment, urbanisation, agriculture, and other aspects of life. Rarely acknowledged is its effect on the politics of work and labour, as well as on political actions and behaviours in general. In Zimbabwe, ASM is perhaps more connected with and has reshaped broader societal processes, human actions, and the greater political economy than in other southern African nations. This paper offers a dissection of a gold-mining rush, the common ASM occurrence and workplace in order to comprehend how the various actors in mining rush sites perceive "work" and concomitantly "labour" in contexts where the structures and strictures of production and control are informal, flexible, contingent, situational, indeterminate, and frequently evasive of state and institutional confines. How then are political subjects fashioned under such conditions? The study is based on five months of ethnographic field research conducted in the gold-rich Kwekwe District in Zimbabwe's Midlands province between 2021 and early 2022.

Journal of Southern African Studies, Mar 6, 2023

Review of African Political Economy, May 13, 2021

In 1994, apartheid rule collapsed in South Africa, and went away with most of the rigid structure... more In 1994, apartheid rule collapsed in South Africa, and went away with most of the rigid structures that had circumscribed the movement, and arguably the entire lives of black people. In a haste to ...

Revue internationale de politique de développement

International Development Policy | Revue internationale de politique de développement , 2023

English Français Español The platinum mining regions of South Africa's North West province attrac... more English Français Español The platinum mining regions of South Africa's North West province attract numerous individuals from far and wide in search of mining jobs and other opportunities directly or indirectly related to the mines. Since the late 1990s many newcomers to the region have established informal settlements close to mining operations and nearby urban areas. Significant numbers of IsiXhosaspeaking migrants, primarily from the southeast of the country, reside in these settlements. This chapter examines particular social and cultural practices to argue that such mine-periphery settlements are significant sites for consequential social and political organisation and action. The chapter proposes that such politics, which can be termed the 'politics of presence', permits visible and audible claim-making and demands by the residents vis-à-vis the state and mining capital. Ordinary strategies for constructing and organising life entrench and expand their political presence, actions, and solidarity in a region that is, generally speaking, hostile to their presence. Instead of confronting, pathologising and marginalising the sociopolitical organisation and practices of informal settlement residence, policymakers would do well to view the political space and structures created in informal settlements as potentially fruitful for progressive political communication and deliberations aimed at improving the lives of poor people over the long term.

Journal of Southern African Studies

Journal of Southern African Studies, 2023

In post-2000s Zimbabwe, artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has become one of the major ... more In post-2000s Zimbabwe, artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has become one of the major economic activities that provides income and livelihood opportunities to millions of people. The article attempts to make sense of how such mining activities intertwined with the country's political economy and became implicated in shaping the dynamics of local and national politics. Taking the case of Kwekwe district, situated at the heart of the country, the article argues that ASGM as a socioeconomic and political activity and a general way of life became the core of contemporary local Zimbabwean political relations, interactions and participation, and indeed a potent motor in party-state expansion and power consolidation. The new arrangements of politics, while facilitating the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union(Patriotic Front) (ZANU[PF])'s strong hold on power and territory in the face of powerful opposition politics represented by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), also encouraged local actors to expand their own statuses and influence away from political marginality towards the traditional political and elite centres such as the capital, Harare. The article shies away from literature that has emphasised state domination and subordination; this is in order to demonstrate that the relationship between the new political actors (buoyed by gold extraction) and the state is a flexible network of bargains and negotiated fusions, exchanges and appropriations. Largely ethnographical, it engages with an aspect of artisanal mining and politics in Zimbabwe that has yet to receive systematic scholarly attention.

The Extractive Industries and Society

Zimbabwe's regime does not to surrender to anyone its guardianship of the post-independence narra... more Zimbabwe's regime does not to surrender to anyone its guardianship of the post-independence narrative, symbols and authority. One of the most remarkable protest acts in Zimbabwe in 2016 was a little-publicized act by a small group of female Christian worshippers who dressed up in sacks, and prayed and wailed for three days. It was indicative of a year replete with seemingly symbolic and performative acts of defiance against President Robert Mugabe and the ruling party ZANU-PF's chokehold on power. Then in mid-2016, preacher Evan

It is like we both notice a profound sadness in the silence that follows. I'm not sure if mother ... more It is like we both notice a profound sadness in the silence that follows. I'm not sure if mother also hears the swishy-splashy sound on the line-the waves-like sound that I imagine is from the ocean between us. There's a beep and the line cut off. Probably her battery is dead. I look out again to the lake. A small boat with a blue light is slowly drifting on the lake, towards Zürich. It's the Seepolizei, I suppose, from the Canton police on their evening patrol. I'm going back into the house to get myself some more drinks. < previous | next > We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking "Accept All", you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.

Labour, Capital and Society/Travail, capital et société, 2015

« Au-delà de l'enceinte » : Organisation de la vie sociale dans un quartier informel au coeur d'u... more « Au-delà de l'enceinte » : Organisation de la vie sociale dans un quartier informel au coeur d'une ville minière d'Afrique du Sud. Melusi Nkomo Résumé Cet article brosse un tableau ethnographique de la vie sociale quotidienne parmi les migrants qui habitent les quartiers informels de Marikana, petite ville d'exploitation minière de platine de la province du Nord-Ouest en Afrique du Sud. L'article avance d'abord que la disparition des enceintes qui abritaient les mineurs saisonniers dans l'Afrique du Sud d'avant 1994 a eu pour effet de fragmenter la main d'oeuvre. Il existait toutefois d'autres formes de cohésion plus locales, composées d'autres formes de relations et de compréhension collective en dehors des institutions établies, des organisations axées sur les classes sociales et des partis politiques. L'auteur suggère en outre que les formes de cohésion discernées dans les quartiers informels reposent sur des pratiques locales particulières qui rejettent les hiérarchies sociales et politiques des organismes officiels. Elles se conforment plutôt à des règles tacites qui puisent dans les conceptions profondément ancrées de ce qui constitue des comportements sociaux, moraux, hiérarchiques et culturels acceptables aux yeux des habitants. L'article relève ce que Karl von Holdt a décrit comme des « ordres moraux locaux », un concept qu'il utilise pour dévoiler des exemples de situations où l'ordre moral alternatif appuie la violence collective. Cet article va plus loin en soutenant que les intervenants sociaux invoquent et développent des codes culturels afin d'assurer l'ordre au coeur d'un désordre spatial et institutionnel. L'« ordre moral local » peut effectivement favoriser la violence collective, comme dans les cas cités par von Holdt, mais n'a pas nécessairement cet effet.