Nationalism and Politics in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This chapter focuses on nationalism in past and present Zimbabwean politics. It first traces the history and nature of anti-colonial nationalism in Zimbabwe, after which it sets out continuities and discontinuities of anti-colonial nationalism in independent Zimbabwe. The chapter is principally interested in the post-2000 years, which witnessed the rise of a particular and influential authoritarian nationalism and its temporary decline in the period November 2017 to August 2018. The chapter maintains that after 2000, the governing Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) party propagated an exceedingly parochial and divisive authoritarian nationalism, predicated on loyalty to the ruling party. This authoritarian nationalism was prompted by the entrance of a credible opposition challenger to ZANU–PF in elections and was undergirded by a discriminatory rendition of Zimbabwe’s independence struggle history. ZANU–PF’s authoritarian nationalism was hardly brand new, since it had long roots in Zimbabwe’s anti-colonial nationalism, but its vigour and methodical promulgation by ZANU–PF constituted substantial discrepancies with past variations. Finally, the chapter argues that the removal of long-time ZANU–PF leader Robert Mugabe in a military coup in 2017 resulted in only a brief hiatus in ZANU–PF’s authoritarian nationalism, underscoring the deeply embedded nature of the ruling party’s authoritarian nationalist politics.