Introduction

This introduction lays the theoretical groundwork for a comprehensive and critical exploration of contemporary protest as both fragmented and compatible with its antithetical target. Using Southern Africa as a point of reference, the introduction demonstrates how apartheid, redefined as the side-by-side existence of disparate realities, frames and conditions individuals’ reactions to adversity. The novel Apartheid Studies framework is introduced to explain the persistence of harm despite the proliferation of protest. Key Apartheid Studies concepts such as “good neighbourliness,” “demotion” and “Rate of Oppression” are defined and positioned within broader debates on protest and social movements. Overall, the introduction situates the study of fragmented protest in contemporary Southern Africa as a contribution to a scant but emerging literature that is not content with just describing protest outcomes but is deeply invested in theorising the relationship between apartheid and protest and why life goes on even as people protest.