Customary nationalism in crisis: protest, identity and politics in eSwatini

Abstract

The Kingdom of eSwatini is undergoing its worst political and humanitarian crisis in postcolonial times. In June-July 2021, the indiscriminate killing and torturing of pro-democracy protesters by the military and the police force marked the terminal decline of the Swati postcolonial dispensation, centred around the rule of the monarchy in the name of 'custom'. This special issue explores multiple aspects of social and political life under this postcolonial order - from the transition to independence in the 1960s all the way to the current crisis. Inspired by the articles in the collection, we argue that eSwatini's postcolonial biopolitical regime has been driven by an ideology of 'customary nationalism', which constructs Swati citizens as holding a distinct and unitary national identity that is closely aligned with an interpretation of custom that serves the interests of the royal elite. Race and ethnicity, gender and class are key dimensions of biopolitical contestation through which this ideology is articulated in practice. We conclude by framing the contemporary mass movement for democracy as the intensification of biopolitical struggles led by those who have been symbolically and materially marginalised by customary nationalism, including, but not limited to, the youth, the unemployed and the precariously employed.