Collective Self-description: Actual, Vague, and Absent Figures of Identification

In the previous chapter, we examined the individual challenges experienced by Zimbabwean migrants to Cape Town. Often the narratives presented by interviewees include moments of generalizing or extending the personal story outward to suggest that other migrants likely face the same or similar problems. This tendency towards encompassing the wider community in one’s own experience occurs mainly in thinking about other migrants or those also from Zimbabwe.