Globalization and economic development in Zimbabwe: A new model for sustainable development.

Abstract

The process of development is both subversive and addictive. It is subversive because it undermines the status quo and challenges some vested interests. It is also addictive because choice, freedom, knowledge and greater material gain once tasted raises expectations for more of the same expectations that are not easily managed politically. Globalization has become the necessary consequence of economic development which is in pursuit of the modern market economies. As a result there is the development of interconnectedness of the economies in the global village. Failure to link up with the global village is tantamount to economic suicide. It is against this backdrop that African economies cannot afford to be dormant since a nation with a closed economy with no linkages with the rest of the global village will collapse. This research paper is centered on the concept of globalization and economic development in Zimbabwe. Besides reflecting on the impact of globalization on development and democratization, this article explores the various contradictions that arise out of the relationship between these concepts. It also highlights the peculiar challenges that underlie and further complicate this relationship in the specific context of African countries. Any meaningful discussion of these relationships and the attendant contradictions and challenges however, first requires a clear understanding of the relevant concepts. In view of the central focus of this article, it is not only appropriate but also necessary to begin by defining the key concepts. This is not an easy task, considering the diversity of interpretations of the terms 'globalization', 'development' and 'democracy'. Nevertheless, it is to conceptual issues that we first turn our attention.