ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to develop a theory of protest that is relevant for the postcolonial societies of the global South. It does so by identifying an excluded domain of society, which is marginalised in relation to both the economy and the state. It develops a theoretical framework and begins by unpacking two works by Frantz Fanon and Mahmood Mamdani, each of which leverages the urban/rural divide to theorise different segments of society, and then present Partha Chatterjee's contrast between civil society and political society as their synthesis. The chapter explores the theoretical foundation to illuminate key features of contemporary community protests in South Africa. It contributes to social movement theory in general, and to an understanding of popular politics in South Africa. The chapter highlights the importance of society's more marginalized spaces – terrains of political and economic exclusion – where struggles revolve around governmentality, demands for community recognition, and a strategic politics that operates in a grey zone of legality.
