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Global technological advancements in transport and communication have led to a compression of time and space, but some populations are confined to their geographic regions. This paper uses a qualitative approach to conduct an intersectional analysis of music by Zimbabwean migrants in Johannesburg South Africa to explore how migrants respond to this phenomenon. It presents the ways in which the migrants construct identities and spatial imaginaries as a form of claiming space in Johannesburg and globally. Xenophobia in South Africa and the migrants’ memories of the Zimbabwean State violence necessitates the narration of identities and spatial imaginaries where the migrants can claim belonging. The paper argues that even where the identities imagined do not carry currency in the contemporary world. They work to critique the current racialised global hierarchy that does not include the migrants in its power geometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper spotlights post‐disaster relief provision in Johannesburg, South Africa, following the floods of 2016 in a bid to explore how local government and non‐governmental actors in the country conceive of compounding vulnerability and conflict within urban disaster governance. It reveals the diverse strategies employed to navigate violent conflict during the cyclical occurrence of disaster and reconstruction that the predominantly migrant population experiences in the Setswetla informal settlement, adjacent to the Alexandra township in northern Johannesburg. Rendered visible in moments of disaster and recovery are the spatial politics and multidimensional nature of conflict. These phenomena unfold across various levels of urban governance and in the affected community and effectively construct a disaster citizenship that makes risk reduction and community cohesion impossible in the eyes of disaster managers. This research, based on a set of expert interviews, integrates conflict and disaster studies to shed light on how the conflict–disaster interface materialises, and is operationalised, in an urban setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]