The History and Political Transition of Zimbabwe

This book is the first to tackle the difficult and complex politics of transition in Zimbabwe, with deep historical analysis. Its focus is on a very problematic political culture that is proving very hard to transcend. At the center of this culture is an unstable but resilient 'nationalist-military' alliance crafted during the anti-colonial liberation struggle in the 1970s. Inevitably, violence, misogyny and masculinity are constitutive of the political culture. Economically speaking, the culture is that of a bureaucratic, parasitic, primitive accumulation and corruption, which include invasion and emptying of state coffers by a self-styled 'Chimurenga aristocracy.' However, this 'Chimurenga aristocracy' is not cohesive, as the politics that led to Robert Mugabe's ousting from power was preceded by dirty and protracted internal factionalism. At the center of the factional politics was the 'first family', Robert Mugabe and his wife, Grace Mugabe. This book offers a multidisciplinary examination of the complex contemporary politics in Zimbabwe, taking seriously such issues as gender, misogyny, militarism, violence, media, identity, modes of accumulation, ethnicization of politics, attempts to open lines of credit and FDI, national healing, and national question as key variables not only of a complex political culture but also of difficult transitional politics.

Auteur
Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni is Research Professor and Director of Scholarship in the Department of Leadership and Transformation (DLT) in the Principal and Vice-Chancellor's Office at the University of South Africa, and is also the 2019 Visiting Professor at the Johannesburg Institute of Advanced Study at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Pedzisai Ruhanya is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the University of Johannesburg's School of Communication, South Africa, and the director of the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute.

Contenu

1. Introduction: From Robert Gabriel Mugabe to Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa: Repetition without Change or Second Republic?.- PART I: Colonialism, Nationalism and Political Culture.- 2. The Political Culture of Zimbabwe: Continuities and Discontinuities.- 3. The National Question in Zimbabwe.- 4. Opposition Politics and the Culture of Polarization in Zimbabwe, 1980-2018.- 5. Understanding Zimbabwe's Political Culture: The Media and Civil Society.- PART 2: Identity, Militarization and Transitional Politics.- 6. The 'Identity Politics' Factor in Transition Politics in Zimbabwe.- 7. The Ethnicization of Political Mobilization in Zimbabwe: The Case of Pro-Mthwakazi Movements.- 8. The Militarization of State Institutions in Zimbabwe, 2002-2017.- PART 3: Social Media, Democracy and Political Discourse.- 9. The Media and Politics in the Context of the 'Third Chimurenga' in Zimbabwe.- 10. Social Media and the Concept of Dissidence in Zimbabwean Politics.- 11. The Tabloidization of Political News in Zimbabwe: End of Quality Press?.- Part IV.- Post-Mugabe Economy, Gender and Operation Restore Order.- 12. Primitive Accumulation and Mugabe's Extroverted Economy: What Now Under the Second Republic.- 13. The Idea of a New Zimbabwe Post-Mugabe.- 14. Misogyny, Sexism and Hegemonic Masculinity in Zimbabwe's Operation Restore Legacy.- 15. The Endeavour of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Post-Mugabe Era.