Immigrant students’ shifting identifications in South African schools

Abstract

Identities are the names we give the different ways that we are positioned by, and position ourselves within the narratives of the past. (Hall).

New Immigrant Destinations in Global Context

“…In her study of Chinese labor migrants in Israel, for instance, Li () framed Israel as a new destination for Chinese workers, not based on a demographic threshold or a comparison to other destinations in the Middle East, but because Chinese immigrants had previously not gone to Israel and had grown in number in a short time period. Similarly, South Africa has been studied as a NID for migrants from other African nations, not in relation to trends elsewhere in sub‐Saharan Africa before, but because these groups had not gone to South Africa before (Vandeyar, ). The absence of research that situates non‐U.S.…”

“…Nonetheless, the absence or limited sense of immigrant settlement as part of recallable local histories in NIDs contours the context of immigrant reception, especially vis‐à‐vis racial/ethnic or cultural dynamics. Whether the U.S. South's Black–White racial binary, South Africa's understanding of the link between blackness and nationality, or Ireland's Protestant‐Catholic distinction (Scharbrodt and Sakaranaho, ; McAreavey, ; Vandeyar, ; Winders, ), immigrant settlement in NIDs can force reconfigurations of how both immigrants and native‐born residents understand racial and cultural identities, past and present.…”

“…In this way, geopolitical shifts between Israel and China, as much as economic opportunities in Israel, made it a NID for Chinese workers. In similar fashion, Vandeyar () examined South Africa as a “new destination” that emerged when the end of formal apartheid created new opportunities for “asylum‐seekers, long‐distance traders, entrepreneurs, students and professionals” from elsewhere in sub‐Saharan Africa (232). The demise of formal apartheid – a political shift of epic proportions – created the conditions for South Africa to become a NID.…”

“…In the Middle East, scholars have described Israel as a new destination for Chinese workers and examined the changing geographies of Sri Lankan labor migration into the region (Shaw, ; Li, ). South Africa has been identified as a new destination for Black immigrants who previously went elsewhere on the continent and whose numbers have increased 10‐fold since 1990 (Vandeyar ). In Zambia in the 2000s, the labor migration of nurses shifted away from South Africa (Hamada et al ., ), making the established destination of Great Britain a new destination for this immigrant group.…”

Opposing Gazes: Racism and Xenophobia in South African Schools

“…Some of which has been expressed in violence against immigrants (Vandeyar, 2010;Vandeyar, 2011;Vandeyar, 2012;Vandeyar, 2013;Vandeyar & Vandeyar, 2012). There is controversy about whether that was xenophobia or racism or neither of that or just competition.…”