ABSTRACT
This chapter examines fragmentation in relation to the individual protest. It argues that fragmentation is not a later development of protest occurring during the peak or decline phases. Rather, fragmentation pre-exists protest, being an inherent feature of apartheid. To demonstrate that fragmentation is foundational to protest, the chapter first looks at #ThisFlag as a hybrid protest which began with an “online” fragment but, like most contemporary protests, was oriented towards offline activism. Online protest represents a fragment of the individual protest whose key characteristic is duality or hybridity. The relationship between the online and offline fragments of protest is discussed alongside a second iteration of protest fragmentation which owes to the intraspecific, individualised experiences of actors. It is argued that protest actors embody fragments, attuned to their distinct household experiences, which they bring to a marketplace of harm where they interact with other individuals’ own fragmented experiences. This coming together of “rates of oppression” is what gives birth to public protest as we know it.
