Xenophobia, State and Society in South Africa, 2008–2010

Based on primary research that was in field immediately before and after the May 2008 xenophobic violence, this article explores the social base that fed and continues to feed xenophobia in South Africa. It examines the different ways that the violence has been labelled—criminal, xenophobic, negrophobic, Afrophobic—and explores possible motivations for using these different labels. It also examines the role that civil society organizations played during and after the violence, and concludes that without a far more deep-seated economic and social transformation, South Africa will remain beset by unresolved challenges that have their roots in our past but remain with us today.