Event overview
I will screen a short documentary film I made on migration in South Africa. After which, I will talk about the dynamics of knowledge co-creation through the lens of documentary filmmaking on (forced) migrants in South Africa. Drawing on empirical research done in South Africa in 2022, both narration and the documentary film became potent modes of knowledge co-production, illuminating how cultural productions contribute to shaping our understanding of forced migration and its associated challenges. Emphasising the prevalence of anti-migrant rhetoric in South Africa and the prevalence of violence meted out against (forced) African migrant workers, I identify parallels with global discourses surrounding migrancy, where false nationalisms vilify migrants as scapegoats for societal issues. Central to the overarching claim is the integration of border theory as an epistemological framework - the “bodily border” as the ultimate marker of differentiation as “recognising strangers” through which violence is enacted to the severity of death. Nationalist discourse in South Africa targets (forced) African migrants—is one rooted in citizenship without content. The documentary film functions not only as a visual and narrative counterpoint to dominant anti-immigration discourse but also as a co-constructed medium for exploring and articulating the complex notions of home experienced by African (forced) migrants in South Africa.
Dr Phoebe Kisubi Mbasalaki is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology and director of the Centre for Intimate Sexual Citizenship at the University of Essex. She is also a film producer and has worked extensively in South Africa and other countries. Her research interests are in critical race, gender, class, sexuality, creative activism, public health, as well as decolonial thought and praxis and migration. She is currently engaged with two grants, 'Economies of care: locating migrant and BAME care workers in the UK in times of crisis' and 'Reparations: resisting historical and contemporary injustices through decolonial feminism'.
Kisubi Mbasalaki, P. and Kizito, K., (2024). Forced Migrant Counter Cultural (Co)Productions. Social Inclusion. 12
Kisubi Mbasalaki, P. and Matchett, S., (2024). How to do (a decolonial afro-feminist) creative action research with a group of street based sex workers in Cape Town. SAGE Research Methods Cases: Diversifying and Decolonizing Research
Dias, SR. and Kisubi Mbasalaki, P., (2021). A Study of Hate Speech in the North and South: Politicians as Communicative Agents. Language, Discourse and Society. 9 (2), 31-47
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Dec 2025 | 4:00pm - 5:00pm |
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