Steven Gordon

• PhD in Human Geography
• Senior Researcher Specialist at Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC)

African states are often characterised as low trust societies. Could a deficiency of social capital explain prejudice towards immigrants in such societies? Using South Africa as a case study, this paper tests the effect of social trust, social bonds with neighbours and a sense of community on attitudes towards foreigners. The results reveal that so...

The South Africa’s democratic nation-building programme has sought to encourage a new non-racial nationalism. Over the last thirty years, racial divisions have lessened as the country has successfully consolidated a new democratic political system. However, interracial animosity and a sense of interracial competition continue to characterize many a...

More than a hundred thousand people crisscross South Africa's international borders annually. Public opinion on this cross-border migration is decidedly hostile. According to a 2013 opinion poll, more than three-fifths of the adult population would favour closing the border. Can civic and ethnic identifications with the nation explain this oppositi...

Community and public gatherings are an important component of political participation in sub-Saharan Africa. Formal and informal community meetings and rallies are instrumental to the practice of politics in many parts of the continent. However, little multidimensional research has focused on the drivers of this form of political participation in a...

Xenophobic violence is a fundamental obstacle to the mental, social, and economic wellbeing of international migrants living and working in South Africa. Currently, there is substantial contention on what determines participation in this type of behaviour. This article looks at the role of perceived threat and whether such attitudes are driving bot...

The study examines the mental health of external migrants in South Africa, a subject which has previously attracted little attention from researchers. Drawing on a unique survey covering ten township communities, the study focuses on depression as a key driver of mental health. Research results established material deprivation, discrimination, and...

The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on xenophobia in South Africa is little understood. The Behavioural Immune System (BIS) theory would predict that hostility towards immigrants increases during periods of heightened pathogen stress. This BIS‐hypothesis is tested against the relative strength of three other possible drivers of anti‐immigrant senti...

Compared to many other countries, South Africa has quite a liberal refugee settlement policy. But public hostility towards refugees in the country is a serious obstacle to refugee protection. To understand what is driving anti-refugee sentiment amongst the masses, this study investigates refugee settlement policy preferences in the post-apartheid n...

South African society has been beleaguered by high-profile political corruption scandals since the early 2000s, bringing questions of accountability, ethical leadership, and the state of democracy into sharp focus. In this chapter, we reflect on the way these contextual developments have informed public opinion. The analysis charts the rapid rise o...

Social cohesion issues, such as xenophobia and racism, are major societal challenges for South Africa. What can be put forward to address these challenges? By drawing together separate threads of literature from Pan-Africanism and common ingroup identities, the study puts forward the Pan-African Solidarity thesis: low levels of supranational identi...

Self-reported experiences of racial discrimination are quite prevalent among the adult population of colour in South Africa. This article will argue that ongoing experiences of racial intolerance encourage participation in hate crime. To validate this thesis, two models are tested: (a) the Common Ingroup Identity (CII) and (b) Social Identity Threa...

Pro-refugee philanthropy is beneficial for refugee integration and an important contributor to intergroup relations in a South African context. No study, however, has provided an in-depth quantitative analysis of what factors drive this type of behaviour. This article investigates what cultural, social and religious factors may predict participatio...

Developing progressive migration policy and legislation in South Africa is significantly hampered by anti-immigrant sentiment amongst the general public. Despite the recommendations of experts, the country has not adopted a clear and coherent immigration integration policy. Moreover, xenophobic violence presents a clear threat to the current South...

The risks posed by climate change have become increasingly apparent. In response, the South African government has introduced various policy measures, reflecting a commitment to transitioning to a low-carbon economy. Successfully navigating this transition requires policy processes to take account of individual preferences, concerns, and lived real...

Twenty-five years into our constitutional democracy the Covid-19 pandemic led President Ramaphosa to declare a state of national disaster in terms of the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002 (DMA). Strict lockdown regulations promulgated under the DMA had a clear bearing on human rights, such as the rights of religious observance, assembly and demons...

Rapid technological advancement has prompted growing debate about the promise and challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) for societies. Some believe it will improve efficiency, productivity and quality of life, while others emphasise the risk of job loss, inequality and social exclusion. Despite the salience of these changes for human...

The African Union (AU) has identified opening borders to cross-national mobility as a prime strategic goal, and AU leaders have heralded regional free movement as a vital tool for economic growth and skills development on the continent. Little, however, is known about the level (or determinants) of public support for opening borders in the AU. This...

What role does social dominance orientation theory play in explaining anti-immigrant violence in the South African context? Despite its popularity, studies of intergroup conflict in South Africa have tended to ignore the role of social dominance orientation theory in predicting aggression against minority groups. The article explores this role by e...

In the last few decades, South Africa has experienced destructive waves of anti-immigrant violence. Tackling this kind of hate crime requires co-ordinated action. Mobilizing such action would be easier if researchers, activists, and policymakers better understood public opinion on antixenophobia interventions. This article examines individual prefe...

The quarter century following the historic 1994 elections in South Africa and the establishment of a democratic dispensation was a period of transformative change. During this time, nation-building efforts were undertaken as a means of promoting redress, overcoming the country’s colonial, segregationist and apartheid past, and challenging tradition...

Not much has been known about the sources of information used by ordinary people when seeking information on foreign nationals residing in their country. This chapter reports on the results of a study aimed at establishing which information sources individuals trust most. Data from the South African Social Attitudes Survey was used for this study....

he African Union wants to make 'being African' an important immigration admission criterion amongst its member states. This would be a large-scale change to border control in South Africa, altering the nation's symbolic boundaries. But what do ordinary South Africans think about this change? And what are the determinants of public support for drawi...

Given the urgency of redressing South Africa’s unjust legacies of the past, we interrogate the nature of support and opposition to restitution in South Africa. Informed by responses to the nationally representative South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS), we contend that South Africa remains deeply polarised when it comes to addressing these...

Non-institutionalised anti-immigrant activity is a growing problem in many parts of the world, including Africa, and sometimes this activity can turn violent. Strengthening and reinvigorating associational life can seem like a panacea for this particular problem. Despite the theoretical expectations of the neo-Tocquevillian approach, however, the e...

During the recent student protests in South Africa ‘fuck white people’ appeared on T-shirts and walls. When understood only as anti-white sentiments, these words could cause panic and fear. However, we need to determine the extent to which these opinions are shared, by whom, and what should be done to people who propagated these views. To address t...

Hundreds of violent incidents of anti‐immigrant hate crimes have been recorded in South Africa over the past two decades. Understanding how the public views this issue helps us better understand how it can be resolved. The paper identifies determinants of public attitudes towards anti‐xenophobia strategies. Data from the South African Social Attitu...

In the lead up to South Africa's sixth National and Provincial Elections in May 2019, the recent performance and leadership dynamics within the country's major political parties raised fundamental concerns about the potential impact on voter turnout. These concerns were not unfounded, given that the 2019 General Elections recorded the lowest voter...

Over the last 20 years South Africa has experienced a surge in anti-immigrant violence. For at least the last 10 years, the state-sanctioned interpretation of this violence was as follows: it is ‘just crime’ and not motivated by any type of xenophobic sentiment. This interpretive scheme has been challenged by commentators of all stripes. This artic...

More than twenty years after the political transition from apartheid and the implementation of numerous policy programmes and initiatives, deep social inequality continues to be a key feature of national life. The primary dimensions of social inequality prominent in South Africa include income inequality, poverty and human underdevelopment, and une...

Xenophobic violence poses a clear threat to South Africa, especially in light of the country’s treaty commitments to ‘open borders’ following the 30th Ordinary Assembly of the African Union. Civil society organizations have been highly critical of government efforts to prevent xenophobic violence in the country. The aim of this study is to profile...

Family Matters: Family Cohesion, values and wellbeing draws on unique data to offer insight into the diverse realities of contemporary family life in South Africa. It explores a series of family-related values and preferences, and charts the basis and nature of support for policy intervention in the family https://www.hsrcpress.ac.za/books/sasas

The Electoral Commission of South Africa commissioned the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) to review the ballot paper used in national and provincial elections as well as local government elections in South Africa. The ballot paper represents a critical material component of the electoral process, and its design is instrumental to the success...

The Electoral Commission of South Africa commissioned the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) to review the ballot paper used in national and provincial elections as well as local government elections in South Africa. The ballot paper represents a critical material component of the electoral process, and its design is instrumental to the success...

A key factor in providing quality education is the main language of instruction (M-LoI). This creates a challenging situation for education policymakers in post-colonial multilingual countries such as South Africa. Language-in-education policies must valorise indigenous languages and redress their exclusion in past education systems while ensuring...

Recurrent xenophobic violence in South Africa highlights the strong undercurrent of popular opinion opposition to international immigrants. This article examines public attitudes towards the international immigrant community in South Africa and the factors influencing those attitudes. The author uses public opinion data from the 2014 South African...

There is a need to understand how ordinary South Africans save. According to the MMI Consumer Financial Vulnerability Index, many consumers in South Africa are feeling despondent about their finances. At the launch of the Index, Managing Executive of Strategy and Market Development at MMI Corporate and Public Sector Rowan Burger has said these perc...

Recent and recurrent violence against immigrants in South Africa highlight the prevalence of xenophobia in the country. Is there a relationship between attitudes towards immigrant sentiment and life satisfaction at the individual level in that nation? Life satisfaction could be a proxy for anxiety, social alienation or insecurity which may be drivi...

Quality contact between host and international migrant communities can create opportunities for migrants to integrate into host communities. While contact should not be seen as synonymous with integration, for migrants, social networks with hosts can open up access to information as well as social and economic opportunities within host communities....

The policing response to rising protest action in the country has received increased attention in the last decade. This is particularly owing to concerns over confrontations during which protesters have been arrested, injured and in some instances killed by the police. Despite the criticism voiced by various stakeholders about the manner in which t...

This article focuses on providing new insights into the nature of public opinion about protest action in South Africa. Since the mid-2000s the country has experienced one of the world’s highest levels of popular protest and strike action, combined with the recent resurgence of an active student protest movement. Sociological research into these pro...

The policing response to rising protest action in the country has received increased attention in the last decade. This is particularly owing to concerns over confrontations during which protesters have been arrested, injured and in some instances killed by the police. Despite the criticism voiced by various stakeholders about the manner in which t...

This article focuses on providing new insights into the nature of public opinion about protest action in South Africa. Since the mid-2000s the country has experienced one of the world’s highest levels of popular protest and strike action, combined with the recent resurgence of an active student protest movement. Sociological research into these pro...

The future success of South Africa’s unique democracy depends on the development of harmonious race relations. Understanding the factors underlying the country’s interracial attitudes is, consequently, important. Social identity theory suggests that Black African attitudes towards White people are connected to their evaluations of South Africa’s ot...

As it is in many countries, racial rhetoric is a feature of South African national government elections. The use of such rhetoric provokes the question, how much is political party support in the country driven by interracial animosities? Using the nationally representative public opinion dataset, the South African Social Attitudes Survey, this art...

South African politics has been dominated by the African National Congress (ANC) since the country’s successful transition to democracy. But what is the degree of ANC support in South Africa at the micro-level? This paper will examine individual party closeness to the ANC for the period 2008–2014. We will use data from the nationally representative...

In Sub-Saharan Africa, political leaders tend to link the presence of immigrants with dangers to the national community and accuse foreigners of seeking to take jobs, power and land from true autochthons. Emphasising their autochthonous status, such leaders blame immigrant communities for a decline in national wellbeing and rationalise discriminato...

South Africa is a regional hub for migration on the African continent and is home to a growing documented international migrant community. Foreigners in the country, however, often face violations of their established rights and are the victims of abuse. This paper examines public support for policies that would exclude international migrants from...

In the last decade incidents of xenophobia in South Africa have been prevalent. Are such anti-immigration attitudes related to a desire for isolationism in the country and support for a withdrawal from world affairs? Using data from the 2013 round of the nationally representative South African Social Attitudes Survey (N = 2,739), this article was a...

Fear of crime, like crime itself, is thought to be a factor that constrains efforts by government and non-state actors at promoting socially cohesive communities and a caring society. As concern over South Africa's social fabric have mounted, increasing policy attention has been directed at perceptions of safety and nation-building. In this study,...

Fear of crime, like crime itself, is thought to be a factor that constrains efforts by government and non-state actors at promoting socially cohesive communities and a caring society. As concern over South Africa's social fabric have mounted, increasing policy attention has been directed at perceptions of safety and nation-building. In this study,...

In May 2008 anti-immigrant riots in South Africa displaced more than a hundred thousand people. Despite the media attention that the riots attracted, there has been no study that presents trend data on anti-immigrant sentiment for the period after 2008. This paper uses data from the nine rounds of the South African Social Attitudes Survey over the...

The South African organized labour movement is one of the most powerful on the African continent. A central actor in the democratic struggle, the movement continues to play a crucial role in the post-apartheid period. However, public opinion data collected by the South African Social Attitudes Survey for the period 2011–2013 suggest that only a min...

Despite the enthusiasm that prevailed during sub-Saharan Africa's initial wave of independence, representations of quality of life in the region over the last half-century focused on themes that typically characterize failed states: maladministration, violence and conflict, disease, impoverishment and suffering. Although considerable hardship persi...

The global economic downturn, coupled with rising consumer prices, indebtedness and persisting unemployment, has meant hard times for many South Africans. Recognition of this has prompted interest in financial education and scientific interest in measuring financial literacy in the country. The purpose of this study is to report on research of fina...

South Africa is a nation with high unemployment, and informal self-employment can offer an escape from poverty. For this reason, many South African women are currently self-employed. Men also enter the informal sector and though in the minority, they tend to earn more than women. The aim of this paper was to construct a profile of gender difference...

Governance at the local level is at the frontline of African endeavours to complete the Millennium Development Goals. Following the third wave of democratisation in Africa, many new democratic states pursued a strategy of decentralising central governments, empowering local authorities to eradicate poverty and improve citizens’ quality of life. Pub...

Personal well-being surveys have increased their coverage on the African continent in recent years, but detailed research on subjective national well- being is less common. the link between national well-being and xenophobic sentiments has not been adequately tested in an African context. In order to better understand (and correspondingly counter)...

Modern South Africa has become a major recipient of refugees from sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere. The safe integration and protection of refugees and asylum seekers in the country is undermined, however, by the presence of widespread xenophobia in the country. Such animosity has motivated anti-immigrant riots, violence, and prejudice which has ne...

In recent years South African cities have become home to a large number of undocumented migrant workers. If trade unions do not organise undocumented migrant workers, it opens up such workers to exploitation and maltreatment by employers, thereby creating a split labour market that undermines the entire labour movement. This article focuses on the...

The recent commemoration of Heritage Day and Heritage Month raised questions about the state of social cohesion and national identity in the country after 20 years of democracy. Are we proudly South African? What are we most proud of and what shames us about our country? Benjamin Roberts, Steven Gordon, Jare Struwig and Greg Houston examine trends...

Outside southern Africa little attention has been given to the lively debates, particularly within South Africa, about migration, economic integration, racism/xenophobia and exclusion. After the collapse of apartheid the Southern African Development Community (sadc) developed initiatives on regional co-operation on population movement in a far-reac...