ABSTRACT
South Africa’s complex relationships with signification others, from both the Global North and the Global South, shape the state’s understanding of the world and its place in it, in important ways. These relationships are rooted in historical experiences of colonial oppression and exploitation, camaraderie and friendship, solidarity and antagonism, all of which cause the state to feel a range of emotions that inspire in it, motive states of action readiness. Among these are the self-conscious emotions of embarrassment, guilt, humiliation, shame and pride, which play an important role in maintaining moral communities and inspiring courses of action that are meant to soothe existential anxieties. This chapter looks at how South Africa narrates its relationships with significant others, asking specifically what emotions the state experiences in its interactions with these others and why, as well as the relationship that the state maintains with its own, fractured self. This helps lay the groundwork for further analysis of the defenses that the state employs to protect its ego from criticism and self-judgments.
