The Paradox of Planetary Human Entanglements

The Paradox of Planetary Human Entanglements provides a nuanced understanding of the complexity of planetary human entanglements in this age of increased borderisation and territorialisation, racism and xenophobia, and inclusion and exclusion.
One of the greatest paradoxes of the 21st century is that of increased planetary human entanglements enabled by globalisation on the one hand and by the rising tide of exclusionary right-wing politics of racism, xenophobia, and the building of walled states on the other. The characteristic feature of this paradox is the unrestrained move towards the detention and incarceration of those who attempt to migrate. This brings to the fore the issue of borders in terms of their materiality and symbolism and how this mediates belonging, citizenship, and the ethics (or lack thereof) and politics of living together. This book shows that at the core of border and migration restrictions is the desire to exclude certain categories of people, which aptly demonstrates that borders in their materiality are not for everyone but for those who are considered undesirable migrants. The authors examine questions of borders, nationalism, migration, immigration, and belonging, setting the basis of a campaign for planetary humanism grounded on human dignity, which transcends ethnicity and nationality.
This book will be a useful resource for students, scholars, and researchers of African Studies, Border Studies, Migration Studies, Development Studies, International Studies, Black Studies, International Relations, and Political Science.

Inocent Moyo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Zululand, South Africa. He researches borders, migration, and the political economy of the informal economy in the Southern African region. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni is Research Chair in Epistemologies of the Global South at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. He is a prominent historian and one of the leading decolonial scholars and theorists in the Global South. He was the Executive Director of the Change Management Unit (CMU) in the Principal and Vice-Chancellor's office at the University of South Africa (UNISA) and Professor of African Political Economy at the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute (TMALI) at the same institution. Previously, he headed the Archie Mafeje Research Institute for Applied Social Policy (AMRI).

1. Introduction: Human Planetary Entanglements and Challenges of Living Together Part 1: Legacies of Westphalia and Berlin Conferences 2. The Westphalian and Berlin Borders in Comparative Perspective and the Logic of Colonial Conquest 3. Victims of the Westphalia and Berlin Conferences' Decisions: Colonial Border Demarcation and Ndau People's Loss of Land and Cross-border Migration into Mozambique Part 2: Migration, Othering and Xenophobia 4. Human Rights in the Global Compact for Migration: Some Reflections 5. The Complexity and Asymmetrical Power Relations in European Union Border Externalisation in Africa 6. Europe-Africa Border Relations: A Reflection 7. They Steal Our Jobs and Our Women and Sell Drugs to Our Youth: Hybrid-Media Framing of South Africa's 'Criminal Non-nationals' 8. #PutSouthAfricaFirst and Afrophobic Xenophobia Part 3: Nation, Belonging and Citizenship 9. Multiculturalism Discourses: Subterranean Fault Lines in the Rainbow Nation 10. The Covid-19 Moment: Pestilence as Amplifier of Age-long and Entrenched Structural Discrimination in International Migration Towards South Africa 11. Borders, Migration and Belonging in West Africa Part 4: Urbanism, Family Experiences and Transnational Solidarity 12. Living with the "Other": Contentious Politics and Belonging in the Urban Landscape of Northeast India 13. "We Will Meet at the Bridge": Alexander Bridge and Stories of a Zimbabwean Migrant Family in Johannesburg, South Africa, 1970s-2019 14. Childhood Amidst Conflict: Graphic Novels Promoting Transnational Solidarity and Planetary Humanism