Securing the Everyday: Community Action Networks in Cape Town, South Africa

This research explores the emergence and sustainability of Cape Town's Community Action Networks (CANs) as security actors beyond the state. These grassroots networks were formed in response to systemic insecurities exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly in informal settlements where state responses were inadequate. By conceptualising CANs as 'everyday security practitioners', the study will investigate how security is negotiated and practiced outside traditional state-centric frameworks, particularly in relation to the mutual constitution of identity and in/security. Here, identity is understood as a vehicle to subvert the securitisation of Covid-19 through the construction of a new 'security imaginary' (how communities construct and negotiate security based on their identity and experiences). By examining the material and ideational conditions that sustain CANs as a form of collective action, this research addresses how non-elite actors theorise, negotiate, and subvert security. The study adopts a mixed-methods approach, with qualitative ethnographic research to explore the content of security practices and identity/ies, and quantitative analysis to examine the relationship between group identification, trust in authorities, and participation levels within CANs. The research aims to understand the mechanisms through which CANs have mobilised and maintained their operations, despite the decline of the Covid-19 crisis. The findings will contribute to broader discussions on collective action, security, and identity, challenging conventional approaches to security by focusing on non-elite practices.