Reconciliation and Religio-political Non-conformism in Zimbabwe

Tarusarira, Joram

doi:10.4324/9781315603940

Cited by 19 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…A generous 75% of the Zimbabweans claim to be Christians. 80 The numerous Biblical verses that were cited in support of Chamisa attests to this predilection. Two aspects require particular consideration here.…”

Section: Discussion: the Ambivalence Of Religious Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religious Politics in Africa: Fasting for Politics, or Political Fasting in Zimbabwe?

Tarusarira

2020

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In the post-colonial history of presidential aspirants in Zimbabwe, no politician has been as overtly religious as Nelson Chamisa, the current leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Chamisa identifies himself as a politician and a pastor whose politics are guided by his Christian faith. However, he took religious rhetoric to mobilise support to an unprecedented level when he explicitly blurred the boundaries between functions by calling for and leading a week of fasting and prayer from 29th July to 4th August 2019. Through a digital ethnography of Chamisa’s Twitter posts and the direct responses to them posted by members of the public during the fasting and prayer week, this article investigates how this call was received by those who responded on Twitter and what this tells us about Zimbabweans’ perceptions of religious politics, that is, the deployment of dominant religions like Christianity in politics.

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Section: Discussion: the Ambivalence Of Religious Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religious Politics in Africa: Fasting for Politics, or Political Fasting in Zimbabwe?

Tarusarira

2020

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“…Instead, Zimbabwe has accumulated an array of conflict points which make the quest for peace and reconciliation imperative (Huyse 2003, p. 34). The conflicts were due to the contest for political and economic power between political parties, which created negative beliefs, attitudes and emotions, encouraging ordinary people to rise against each other on political grounds, thereby destroying the tapestry of relationships that formerly existed (Tarusarira 2016).…”

Section: Whither the Socio-economic And Political Situation In Zimbabwementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The land was the only remaining rhetorical source of mobilisation for ZANU PF (Dorman 2003, p. 848). Unruly gangs occupied the land, destroyed crops, confiscated livestock and equipment, and forced farm owners and their workers to flee during the preludes to the elections of 2000, 2002(Sachikonye 2011Tarusarira 2016). The banning of the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) from campaigning characterized the election periods.…”

Section: Whither the Socio-economic And Political Situation In Zimbabwementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Journalists and media houses were required to register, and foreign media were banned. Public media metamorphosed into a full-blown propaganda instrument, limiting public discourse to themes approved by the ZANU PF elites and "inventing traditions" (Tarusarira 2016). "Invention of traditions" refers to "a set of practices normally governed by overtly or tacitly accepted rules and of a ritual or symbolic nature which set out to inculcate certain values and norms of behaviour by repetition, which automatically implies continuity with the past" (Hobsbawm 1983, p. 1;1994, p. 76).…”

Section: Whither the Socio-economic And Political Situation In Zimbabwementioning

confidence: 99%

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When Piety Is Not Enough: Religio-Political Organizations in Pursuit of Peace and Reconciliation in Zimbabwe

Tarusarira

2020

Religions

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In post-independence Zimbabwe, religion has been associated with piety and acquiescence rather than radical confrontation. This has made it look preposterous for religious leaders to adopt seemingly radical and confrontational stances in pursuit of peace and reconciliation. Since the early 2000s, a new breed of religious leaders that deploy radical and confrontational strategies to pursue peace has emerged in Zimbabwe. Rather than restricting pathways to peace and reconciliation to nonconfrontational approaches such as empathy, pacifism, prayer, meditation, love, repentance, compassion, apology and forgiveness, these religious leaders have extended them to demonstrations, petitions and critically speaking out. Because these religious leaders do not restrict themselves to the methods and strategies of engagement and dialogue advocated by mainstream church leaders, mainstream church leaders and politicians condemn them as nonconformists that transcend their religious mandate. These religious leaders have redefined and reframed the meaning and method of pursuing peace and reconciliation in Zimbabwe and brought a new consciousness on the role of religious leaders in times of political violence and hostility. Through qualitative interviews with religious leaders from a network called Churches in Manicaland in Zimbabwe, which emerged at the height of political violence in the early 2000s, and locating the discussion within the discourse of peace and reconciliation, this article argues that the pursuit of peace and reconciliation by religious actors is not a predefined and linear, but rather a paradoxical and hermeneutical exercise which might involve seemingly contradictory approaches such as “hard” and “soft” strategies. Resultantly, religio-political nonconformism should not be perceived as a stubborn departure from creeds and conventions, but rather as a phenomenon that espouses potential to positively change socio-economic and political dynamics that advance peace and reconciliation.

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“…The grand objectives of the place-renaming process were decolonisation and construction of a new identity for the new nation. However, a nuanced analysis of place renaming exhibits that it took the form of ‘instrumentalist nationalism’ (Tarusarira, 2016: 95) serving the sectional interests of the ruling elites, especially Mugabe himself. It had several other ‘sub-themes’.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Is Mugabe Also Among the National Deities and Kings?’: Place Renaming and the Appropriation of African Chieftainship Ideals and Spirituality in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe

Mamvura

2021

Journal of Asian and African Studies

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This article examines the elite construction of cultural landscapes in Harare. Since assuming the reins of power in the Zimbabwe African Nation Union (ZANU) in 1977, Robert Mugabe invented a political culture that conflated him with spirit mediums whom the nationalist movement had elevated to national deities and dead kings. Mugabe continued to cultivate this political culture in the post-colonial era using different discourses of self-presentation. The place-renaming exercise that the Mugabe regime implemented immediately after independence was part of Mugabe’s self-legitimating efforts. This article establishes that the place-renaming system in Harare projected Mugabe as a divine king.

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Reconciliation and Religio-political Non-conformism in Zimbabwe

Cited by 19 publications

References 0 publications

Religious Politics in Africa: Fasting for Politics, or Political Fasting in Zimbabwe?

Religious Politics in Africa: Fasting for Politics, or Political Fasting in Zimbabwe?

When Piety Is Not Enough: Religio-Political Organizations in Pursuit of Peace and Reconciliation in Zimbabwe

‘Is Mugabe Also Among the National Deities and Kings?’: Place Renaming and the Appropriation of African Chieftainship Ideals and Spirituality in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe

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