‘Echoing Silences\': Ethnicity in post-colonial Zimbabwe, 1980-2007

Abstract

In spite of its rare entry into both official and public discourses about contemporary Zimbabwe, ethnicity, alongside race, has continued to shape and influence the economic, social, and political life of Zimbabwe since the achievement of independence in 1980. In this article we argue that whilst post-independence Zimbabwe has since the days of the Gukurahundi war (1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)) not experienced serious ethnic-based wars or political instability, there is serious ethnic polarisation in the country and ethnicity remains one of the challenges to the survival of both the state and the country. This ethnic polarisation is to be explained mainly in terms of the broader failure by the state to develop an effective response to the political economy of ethnicity inherited from the colonial past.

Forced Resettlement, Ethnicity, and the (Un)Making of the Ndebele Identity in Buhera District, Zimbabwe

“…Since the 1950s, scholars, policymakers, and ordinary citizens have identified ethnicity as the major cause of conflicts between different linguistic and cultural communities in Africa (see Epstein 1958; Mamdani 2001; Berman et al 2004). In the case of Zimbabwe, the ethnic framework has become the conventional way of analyzing relations between the Shona and the Ndebele (see Bullock 1950; Beach 1974; Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace 1997; Muzondidya & Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2007). However, a closer look into the history of Ndebele–Shona relations in Buhera reveals that too much focus on ethnicity occludes other factors that have contributed to the tension prevailing between these people.…”

Considering the multiple purposes of land in Zimbabwe's economic recovery

“…A typical case was in 2002 when a ZANU (PF) Member of Parliament incited villagers to evict Karanga people from Muzarabani district on the grounds that the area was indigenous to the Korekore people (Muzondidya and Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2007). These discourses of 'exclusion' and 'inclusion' show how belonging has been politically constructed in the FTLRP.…”

Remembering the past against the grain: an analysis of the reconstructions of the past inThe Sunday News's ‘Lest We Forget’ column

“…It is generally acknowledged that the Zimbabwean nationalist struggle was bifurcated along ethnic lines (Muzondidya & Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2007;Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2008). ZAPU tends to be seen as the party of the Ndebelespeaking people yet it had many Shona-speaking people in its ranks and files (Msipa 2015;Nkomo 1984).…”