Surveying and Locating Dissidence in Zimbabwe

Matsilele, Trust

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-08403-4_2

Cited by 3 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…It diverges from previous works that mainly focused on the role of social media in protests and violent government responses (e.g. Gukurume, 2017; Hove & Chenzi, 2020; Madenga, 2021; Mare, 2020; Matsilele, 2022; Matsilele & Ruhanya, 2021; Munoriyarwa, 2022). This article demonstrates that securitisation of the right to protest in Zimbabwe forecloses opportunities for engagement, which negatively affects peace and development.…”

Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 74%

“…Zimbabwe's rural areas face huge challenges such as poor or lack of network coverage and shortage of electricity (Chiweshe, 2017, p. 171). The high cost of data and smartphones also continue to prevent many poor people in both rural and urban areas to access the internet (Matsilele, 2022, p. 93).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Africa, social media was central in mobilising and coordinating protests against authoritarian regimes in North Africa during the Arab Spring, which started in 2010 (Barrons, 2012). In Zimbabwe, social media has been effectively used to express political dissent and mobilising political protest and other forms of injustice (Gukurume, 2017; Hove & Chenzi, 2020; Matsilele, 2022; Matsilele & Ruhanya, 2021). As an exception, Chiweshe (2017) found that urban youths in Harare mainly used social media to discuss anything but serious political engagement thus promoting political apathy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Potential Role of Social Media in Peacebuilding in Zimbabwe

Ndawana

2023

Journal of Peacebuilding & Development

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This article uses securitisation theory to examine the Zimbabwean government's handling of protests and protesters’ use of social media. It is based on the case study of Harare and data gathered from both primary and secondary sources. The article argues that securitisation of the right to protest in Zimbabwe forecloses opportunities for engagement, which negatively affects peace and development. It asserts that social media platforms’ capacity to mobilise discontented citizens for protests can be used by Zimbabwean policy makers to engage the citizens and enhance the formulation and development of pro-peace and development policy initiatives. The article concludes that embracing relevant digital technologies, particularly social media platforms, can offer broader policy engagement opportunities and thereby minimise protests by disgruntled citizens.

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Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 74%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Potential Role of Social Media in Peacebuilding in Zimbabwe

Ndawana

2023

Journal of Peacebuilding & Development

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“…Since the colonial and one-party regime, the state has resorted to violence to repress criticism. Any critical voice against government is labeled as dissidence and the perpetrators as dissidents or enemies of the state (Matsilele, 2019). The dissidents are abducted, arrested, killed, or banished into exile (Donge & Kees, 1998; Matsilele, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Any critical voice against government is labeled as dissidence and the perpetrators as dissidents or enemies of the state (Matsilele, 2019). The dissidents are abducted, arrested, killed, or banished into exile (Donge & Kees, 1998; Matsilele, 2019). Examples include writers Frank Chipasula, Jack Mapanje, and Attati Mpakati who were forced into exile by Malawi’s founding president and dictator Hastings Kamuzu Banda (Sharra, 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agency and Incentives of Diasporic Political Influencers on Facebook Malawi

Nyangulu

Sharra

2023

Social Media + Society

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This article examines the agency and incentives that drive the activism of diasporic political influencers on “Facebook Malawi,” an online imagined political community. In their seminal work on “social media dissidents” and “social media self-made activists” in the Global South, Matsilele and Sharra demonstrate that social media activists engage with different strategies to initiate movements, mobilize citizens, and create their brands in strong opposition to authoritarian regimes which repositions them as freedom fighters in the eyes of the masses and enemies of the state. Correspondingly, we frame diasporic political influencers as actors aided by digital technologies who engage in “long-distance nationalism” on Facebook against authoritarianism in the homeland. We deploy a qualitative mixed methods approach to analyze Facebook data of two diasporic political influencers, Onjezani Kenani and Manes Winnie Hale, who gave informed consent to use their Facebook data generated in 2018 and 2021, a period preceding and following the 2019 Malawi tripartite elections. A thematic analysis of 250 Facebook posts and interview data with the two influencers illustrates how they exercise their agency in their quest for a vision of a better Malawi while navigating a complex and ambivalent web of online and offline threats, incentives, and interests. Implicated in the political communication and mobilization of the two are different strategies that include verbal inventiveness, trolling, and exposing. The article also shows how the concept of long-distance nationalism needs to be adapted in studying diasporic political influencers.

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Play on Twitter During Health Crisis in Non-Democratic Context: Gratification or Dissent?

Mathe,

Motsaathebe

2024

Social Media + Society

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There is scholarly debate on whether digital political participation influence decision-making or merely make citizens feel good. Using digital public sphere theory and play, this article explores political participation on Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe. The study applies a qualitative content analysis on tweets as it answers questions: does perspective by media users in a health crisis exert political change and in what way does play on digital spheres induce participation for gratification purposes? The findings of the study reflect the use of conspiratorial satire, hyperbole, and propaganda in the COVID-19 pandemic as media users laugh at poor health infrastructure, corruption and authoritarianism. We argue that netizens’ political participation on social media is somehow overrated for it has not generated meaningful change in non-democratic context but gives the media user, a sense of gratification for scoffing at the ruling regime.

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Surveying and Locating Dissidence in Zimbabwe

Cited by 3 publications

References 27 publications

The Potential Role of Social Media in Peacebuilding in Zimbabwe

The Potential Role of Social Media in Peacebuilding in Zimbabwe

Agency and Incentives of Diasporic Political Influencers on Facebook Malawi

Play on Twitter During Health Crisis in Non-Democratic Context: Gratification or Dissent?

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