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Navigating Nationality

Exploring the Role and Uses of National Self-Description for Zimbabwean Migrants in South Africa

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  • © 2024

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Authors:
  1. Johannes Kögel

    1. Kottmar, Germany

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Table of contents (11 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xviii
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  2. Introduction: On Unfamiliar Territory

    • Johannes Kögel
    Pages 1-11

  3. Crossing Borders in Southern Africa

    • Johannes Kögel
    Pages 13-47

  4. Doing Research in Postcolonial Times

    • Johannes Kögel
    Pages 49-108

  5. Theoretical Framework: Revising Concepts of Migration Studies

    • Johannes Kögel
    Pages 109-149

  6. Finding Ways to and in Cape Town: Challenges and Mitigating Factors

    • Johannes Kögel
    Pages 151-217

  7. Collective Self-description: Actual, Vague, and Absent Figures of Identification

    • Johannes Kögel
    Pages 219-251

  8. The others: Comparisons to (Other) Collectives

    • Johannes Kögel
    Pages 253-302

  9. “It’s not easy if you are Zimbabwean”: Being Zimbabwean in South Africa

    • Johannes Kögel
    Pages 303-351

  10. Examining Insider-Outsider Dynamics

    • Johannes Kögel
    Pages 353-375

  11. Nationality, Citizenship, and Belonging

    • Johannes Kögel
    Pages 377-405

  12. Conclusion: Paradoxes of Nationality in Theory and Practice

    • Johannes Kögel
    Pages 407-415

  13. Back Matter

    Pages 417-444
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Keywords

About this book

In recounting their migration journey, references to nationality pervade the narratives of Zimbabweans in South Africa. Given the challenges many migrants confront based on their nationality, this presents a seeming paradox. This qualitative interview study, conducted with Zimbabwean migrants in two areas of Cape Town—Observatory and Dunoon—aims to elucidate the nuances of national self-descriptions in a demanding environment. Identifying as Zimbabwean serves as a sanctuary and a retreat, where alternative identifications often prove transient; embracing Zimbabweanness fosters an affirmative and positive self-perception, surpassing the limitations of other collective self-descriptions. Rather than pre-emptively characterizing a nationalist demeanour, the articulation of national self-description emerges as a strategic tool to navigate experiences of hostility and discrimination, while also asserting legitimate claims to equal opportunities. In this way, nationality takes a trajectory that diverges from conventional notions of nationality (and the ones of the nation-state or citizenship) as per Northern theory, contributing to alternative conceptualizations within the framework of the Global South.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Kottmar, Germany

    Johannes Kögel

About the author

Johannes Kögel studied philosophy and sociology in Munich and Cape Town. He currently works as a research associate at the University of Munich (LMU München). He has conducted social research on diverse topics such as brain-computer interfaces, xenotransplantation, and migration in South Africa. 

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Navigating Nationality

  • Book Subtitle: Exploring the Role and Uses of National Self-Description for Zimbabwean Migrants in South Africa

  • Authors: Johannes Kögel

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-43850-0

  • Publisher: Springer VS Wiesbaden

  • eBook Packages: Social Science and Law (German Language)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature 2024

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-658-43849-4Published: 19 January 2024

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-658-43850-0Published: 18 January 2024

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVIII, 444

  • Number of Illustrations: 2 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Migration, Political Sociology

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