This article explores the ways in which Latin American decolonial theory is drawn on to make sens... more This article explores the ways in which Latin American decolonial theory is drawn on to make sense of colonial legacies in contemporary Africa. For Latin American decolonial theory, colonialism is characterized by enforced assimilation enacted through epistemic violence. Latin American decolonial theory self-consciously rejects thinking about colonialism as historically specific in favor of the more abstract concept of coloniality. When Latin American decolonial theory travels to Africa, its emphasis on colonial assimilation obscures a significant experience of colonialism that enforced difference rather than assimilation. The article discusses the key underpinnings of apartheid education as a form of colonial education, in order to show how colonialism was responsive to particular conditions and combined both epistemology and institutions. To think the problem of colonialism in the present requires a comparative account of the problem of colonialism that embraces both the history o...
Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 2014
In 1965 apartheid was declared a crime against humanity. Taking apartheid as a moment in the care... more In 1965 apartheid was declared a crime against humanity. Taking apartheid as a moment in the career of colonial law in South Africa, Pillay’s essay considers the political effects of a debate among a section of South Africa’s liberal critics. It hinged on whether or not to work within the categories of apartheid law, and what the strategic yield of that choice might be politically. In reconsidering this debate, this article explores the relationship between law and politics and considers how working within the legal tradition of colonial and apartheid law framed the objects of political criticism, making more prominent the problem of human rights violations, and rendering more obscure the foundational settler colonial question. It considers whether the politics of this choice was to have the effect of bringing apartheid as such into question, or whether its effect was rather a civilizational one: to secure the law, as a Western legal tradition on the southernmost tip of Africa.
This article argues for the importance of an international comparative perspective in terms of ou... more This article argues for the importance of an international comparative perspective in terms of our analysis and response to violent crime. This is particularly important in the light of the fact that while an increasing number of countries in the global Southhave achieved formal democracy, they continue to be plagued by high levels of violent crime. In fact, transitions from authoritarian to democratic governance around the world, from Eastern Europe to Latin America and Africa, have been accompanied by escalating violent crime rates. In this context, we have much to learn from an international comparative approach in terms of understanding why democratic transitions are so often accompanied by increases in violence, what the impact of this violence is on the ability of these societies to deepen democracy, and what the most appropriate interventions are in relatively new and often resource poor democracies.
International Journal of Conflict and Violence, 2011
This review presents the major lines of investigation regarding violence in Africa since the Cold... more This review presents the major lines of investigation regarding violence in Africa since the Cold War. After a historical introduction to the development of violent phenomena and their political contexts, diverse issues such as civil war, democratization, vigilantism, and the role of youth are assessed. It is argued that recent research has produced important insights by re-focusing on violent phenomena beyond the state. Yet despite the increasing number of non-state violent actors active on the African continent, to speak of a “privatization” of violence may be premature.
Comparative Studies in South Asia Middle East and Africa
In 1965 apartheid was declared a crime against humanity. Taking apartheid as a moment in the care... more In 1965 apartheid was declared a crime against humanity. Taking apartheid as a moment in the career of colonial law in South Africa, Pillay’s essay considers the political effects of a debate among a section of South Africa’s liberal critics. It hinged on whether or not to work within the categories of apartheid law, and what the strategic yield of that choice might be politically. In reconsidering this debate, this article explores the relationship between law and politics and considers how working within the legal tradition of colonial and apartheid law framed the objects of political criticism, making more prominent the prob- lem of human rights violations, and rendering more obscure the foundational settler colonial question. It considers whether the politics of this choice was to have the effect of bringing apartheid as such into question, or whether its effect was rather a civilizational one: to secure the law, as a Western legal tradi- tion on the southernmost tip of Africa.
Page 1. Problematising the making of Good and Evil: Gangs and PAGAD Suren Pillayt Abstract In lat... more Page 1. Problematising the making of Good and Evil: Gangs and PAGAD Suren Pillayt Abstract In late 7995 a movement emerged from the Cape Flats called the People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD~. It emerged ...
This article explores the ways in which Latin American decolonial theory is drawn on to make sens... more This article explores the ways in which Latin American decolonial theory is drawn on to make sense of colonial legacies in contemporary Africa. For Latin American decolonial theory, colonialism is characterized by enforced assimilation enacted through epistemic violence. Latin American decolonial theory self-consciously rejects thinking about colonialism as historically specific in favor of the more abstract concept of coloniality. When Latin American decolonial theory travels to Africa, its emphasis on colonial assimilation obscures a significant experience of colonialism that enforced difference rather than assimilation. The article discusses the key underpinnings of apartheid education as a form of colonial education, in order to show how colonialism was responsive to particular conditions and combined both epistemology and institutions. To think the problem of colonialism in the present requires a comparative account of the problem of colonialism that embraces both the history o...
Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 2014
In 1965 apartheid was declared a crime against humanity. Taking apartheid as a moment in the care... more In 1965 apartheid was declared a crime against humanity. Taking apartheid as a moment in the career of colonial law in South Africa, Pillay’s essay considers the political effects of a debate among a section of South Africa’s liberal critics. It hinged on whether or not to work within the categories of apartheid law, and what the strategic yield of that choice might be politically. In reconsidering this debate, this article explores the relationship between law and politics and considers how working within the legal tradition of colonial and apartheid law framed the objects of political criticism, making more prominent the problem of human rights violations, and rendering more obscure the foundational settler colonial question. It considers whether the politics of this choice was to have the effect of bringing apartheid as such into question, or whether its effect was rather a civilizational one: to secure the law, as a Western legal tradition on the southernmost tip of Africa.
This article argues for the importance of an international comparative perspective in terms of ou... more This article argues for the importance of an international comparative perspective in terms of our analysis and response to violent crime. This is particularly important in the light of the fact that while an increasing number of countries in the global Southhave achieved formal democracy, they continue to be plagued by high levels of violent crime. In fact, transitions from authoritarian to democratic governance around the world, from Eastern Europe to Latin America and Africa, have been accompanied by escalating violent crime rates. In this context, we have much to learn from an international comparative approach in terms of understanding why democratic transitions are so often accompanied by increases in violence, what the impact of this violence is on the ability of these societies to deepen democracy, and what the most appropriate interventions are in relatively new and often resource poor democracies.
International Journal of Conflict and Violence, 2011
This review presents the major lines of investigation regarding violence in Africa since the Cold... more This review presents the major lines of investigation regarding violence in Africa since the Cold War. After a historical introduction to the development of violent phenomena and their political contexts, diverse issues such as civil war, democratization, vigilantism, and the role of youth are assessed. It is argued that recent research has produced important insights by re-focusing on violent phenomena beyond the state. Yet despite the increasing number of non-state violent actors active on the African continent, to speak of a “privatization” of violence may be premature.
Comparative Studies in South Asia Middle East and Africa
In 1965 apartheid was declared a crime against humanity. Taking apartheid as a moment in the care... more In 1965 apartheid was declared a crime against humanity. Taking apartheid as a moment in the career of colonial law in South Africa, Pillay’s essay considers the political effects of a debate among a section of South Africa’s liberal critics. It hinged on whether or not to work within the categories of apartheid law, and what the strategic yield of that choice might be politically. In reconsidering this debate, this article explores the relationship between law and politics and considers how working within the legal tradition of colonial and apartheid law framed the objects of political criticism, making more prominent the prob- lem of human rights violations, and rendering more obscure the foundational settler colonial question. It considers whether the politics of this choice was to have the effect of bringing apartheid as such into question, or whether its effect was rather a civilizational one: to secure the law, as a Western legal tradi- tion on the southernmost tip of Africa.
Page 1. Problematising the making of Good and Evil: Gangs and PAGAD Suren Pillayt Abstract In lat... more Page 1. Problematising the making of Good and Evil: Gangs and PAGAD Suren Pillayt Abstract In late 7995 a movement emerged from the Cape Flats called the People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD~. It emerged ...
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