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Title: | Patriots, puppets, dissidents and the politics of inclusion and exclusion in contemporary Zimbabwe |
Author: | Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Sabelo J. |
Year: | 2008 |
Periodical: | Eastern Africa Social Science Research Review (ISSN 1027-1775) |
Volume: | 24 |
Issue: | 1 |
Period: | January |
Pages: | 81-108 |
Language: | English |
Notes: | biblio. refs. |
Geographic terms: | Zimbabwe Southern Africa |
Subjects: | authoritarianism political history ZANU-PF ZAPU politics Zimbabwe--Politics and government nationalism national liberation movements |
External link: | http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/eastern_africa_social_science_research_review/v024/24.1ndlovu-gatsheni.pdf |
Abstract: | This paper argues that the politics of bifurcation of political actors into puppets, sell-outs, dissidents, enemies and running dogs of imperialism that permeated the liberation war period in Zimbabwe is haunting the postcolonial period as well. Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF has appropriated the label of patriot to itself and any other party that challenges it is quickly 'othered' into a front for imperialist interests. The paper examines the complex politics of inclusion and exclusion in Zimbabwe dating back to the time of the liberation struggle. It focuses on two case studies, viz. the forgotten Internal Settlement or 3rd March Agreement of 1978 - which was part of the many failed attempts to solve the 'Rhodesian problem' of settler colonialism by transferring political power from the minority white settlers to the majority black Africans - and the Patriotic Front-Zimbabwe African People's Union (PF-ZAPU) under Joshua Nkomo in the period 1980-1987 that was eventually swallowed by the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) in December 1987. Detailed analyses of these two case studies demonstrate the complexities of the politics of inclusion and exclusion that culminated in a nation that is highly polarized and currently on the brink of violent conflict attended by an unprecedented economic crisis. Bibliogr., sum. [Journal abstract, edited] |