Afterword: From Apartheid to Precarity: On the Politics of Separation

It seems impossible to write about separation today without having to tarry-even if only briefly-with the politics of current U.S. president Donald Trump. I do not live in the United States and am not a U.S. citizen. Even so, Trump looms large in my political and cultural imaginary, seeping like an invisible toxic substance past whatever affective, psychological, and electronic barriers I have erected to mitigate his impact on my daily life. This is a president defined by separations-divisions he creates, engenders, and enables and others for which he longs (e.g., immigrants from Scandinavia in lieu of ones from the Caribbean). For Trump, separation means the construction of a border wall with Mexico, the enactment of bans for individuals traveling from certain countries or holding certain passports, or a myriad of social and civil divisions created within the United States between those who support him and those who oppose him. Many of Trump's separations are underwritten by a populist nationalism that envisions an America for Americans alone and a racism that unblinkingly names which Americans are truly American and which are unwelcome interlopers. Still other separations come from policies that amplify class divisions even while publicly insisting that the opposite is taking place. Long-standing divisions have been enhanced and expanded; others have been created anew and now look set to remain in place even after Trump departs Washington, D.C.