Abstract
This thesis conducts an in-depth analysis of the way in which Muslims and Islam have been constructed as a security issue in South Africa after the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States. These events, known as ‘9/11’, became the rationale for the former US president, George W. Bush to declare a ‘War on Terror’ and his call on the world to ‘fight terrorism’ (Bush 2001a). As ‘Terrorism’, in the context of 9/11, became associated/equated with Islam, some perceived Bush’s (ibid.) declaration and his invitation to others to join as an attempt at globalising the ‘War on Terror’. South Africa was not unaffected by his call. Ideas associated with the ‘War on Terror’ have travelled and have been incorporated into the South African security and academic discourses.
This thesis uses Securitisation Theory as an analytical construct to ascertain How and Why are Islam and Muslims are securitised in South Africa? Securitisation theory, introduced by scholars associated with the so-called Copenhagen School (CS) of security studies provides an insight into the processes and implications of security discourse. It conceives security as an intersubjective rhetorical practice in which the act of uttering security itself introduces a new social order (Balzacq 2005) and simultaneously justifies the introduction of extraordinary measures to stop or defeat the declared threat. In other words, security, is a ‘Speech-Act’, the utterance of the word ‘security’ is the act that constructs instead of reflects the reality that an issue is threatening (Wæver 2005) and must be stopped urgently. But, the process of uttering ‘security’ is politically invested as it labels an issue a security concern. The notion ‘security’ is a contested concept because political and normative concerns influence and determine whether an issue should or should not be treated as a security threat (Abrahamsen 2005). Thus, labelling Islam, a security matter might not necessarily be based on objective conditions. Indeed, designating it a security concern results from a specific political process (Williams 2003).
The architects of securitisation theory maintain that securitisation starts with utterances by state representatives in ‘institutional [state] voice[s]’ (Wæver 2005) that Islam is a security concern. The theory further suggests that the utterance, instantaneously results in the introduction of emergency measures to annihilate the threat.
However, contrary to such theorisation, this dissertation has found that non-institutional voices, including think-tanks and national newspapers, have contributed to the securitisation of Islam and Muslims in South Africa. Second, the utterance by such non-institutional voices claiming that Muslims and Islam are security threats, did not result in them being treated, instantaneously, as...
D.Litt. et Phil. (Political Studies)