This article explores the emergence of 'diaspora orphans' over the course of Zimbabwe's crisis. The debates over this phenomenon reflect a range of real emotional and practical problems encountered by children and youth with parents abroad. But they also highlight the ambiguity of moral judgments of emigration and émigrés, and the crisis of expectation that assumptions of diaspora wealth have fostered within families and among those remaining behind. The negative stereotyping of 'diaspora orphans' reflects the moral discourse circulating within families, schools and society more broadly, which is revealing for the light it sheds on unfolding debates over changing parenting, gender, and extended family obligations as these have been challenged by crisis and mass exodus. The article furthers understanding of transnational parenting, particularly the perspectives of those who fulfil substitute parental caring roles for children left behind, and of the moral dimensions of debates over the role of money and material goods in intimate relationships of care for children. It adds a new strand to debates over African youths by focusing not on the problems created through entrap-* This research was funded through esrc grant number 000 22 3795. transnational parenting in zimbabwe 115 African Diaspora 7 (2014) 114-138 ment by poverty, but on the emotional consequences of parents' spatial mobility in middle class families where material resources may be ample. The article is based on interviews with adults looking after children and youths left behind (maids, siblings, grandparents and single parents), and the reflections of teachers and 'diaspora orphans' themselves. Keywords diaspora orphans -transnational families -transnational parenting -left-behind children RésuméCet article explore l' émergence des orphelins de la diaspora au cours de la crise qu' a traversée le Zimbabwe. Les débats qui entourent ce phénomène sont le reflet d' une gamme de problèmes émotionnels et pratiques bien réels qu' ont pu connaître les enfants et les jeunes dont les parents sont en exil. Mais ils éclairent également l' ambiguïté qui entoure les jugements moraux portés sur l' immigration et des immigrés, et les espoirs -souvent déçus -suscités dans les familles et parmi ceux qui restent par la richesse que l' on attribue à la diaspora. Les stéréotypes négatifs autour des « orphelins de la diaspora» sont le reflet des discours moralisateurs en vigueur au sein des familles, des écoles et plus largement de la société et éclairent les débats actuels sur l' évolution des modèles de parentalité, de genre, des obligations familiales qui ont été remis en cause par la crise économique et l' émigration de masse. Cet article expose les enjeux de la parentalité transnationale, en particulier les perspectives de ceux qui remplissent le rôle de substitut parental auprès des enfants restés au pays, et les dimensions morales des débats autour du rôle de l' argent et des biens matériels dans les relations intimes de l' éducation des enfants. Il ajoute un...
The political history of Zimbabwe has been one of radical shifts and turns. Winning its political independence from white minority rule in 1980, Zimbabwe emerged as a promising nation. The new prime minister, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, preached hope and reconciliation. There was euphoria at independence as the nation celebrated political freedom achieved through war and highly emotive negotiations at Lancaster House Conference. Before the first half of the decade passed, the new government was already engaged in a war against its citizens, dubbed Gukurahundi. By the end of the decade, it was also clear that its socialist rhetoric and corruption, among other things, were plunging the nation into an economic crisis, which drove the nation into the jaws of the IMF and World Bank. The economic crisis only worsened, and the so-called neoliberal era in the 1990s sent the nation into an economic quagmire. The economy has always been inextricably intertwined with the politics of the country. Political (mis)calculations triggered economic problems, while on other occasions the reverse was true. The years 2000–2009, in particular, were truly a lost decade. The century began with the controvertible Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP). After a period of extreme political tensions in the country, a Government of National Unit (GNU) was established in 2009 in which the ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU PF), and the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), came to form a government. The period from 2010 to 2013 seemed to offer some relief to the nation, partly as a result of the GNU. However, this honeymoon was short-lived. As soon as ZANU PF regained power after the contested 2013 elections, there was a noticeable decline of the economy. Meanwhile, as the economy melted, power struggles intensified within ZANU PF. These reached their peak in 2017, culminating in what has come to be known as the November coup that saw the demise of Mugabe and the takeover by his deputy, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, as president. The post-coup era in Zimbabwe has been a period of political drama and deeper economic challenges.
In moments of great uncertainty there is refuge to be found in the work of intellectual titans like Samir Amin. After the sad news of his passing in August 2018 in Paris, aged 86, we began thinking about how best to explore the enduring relevance of his analysis and concepts to make sense of contemporary crises. As we face the prospects of devastating long-term social and economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, Amin's work inspires thinking that combines rigorous research with a commitment to radical change. In one of his latest writings, Amin (2019a, 10) implores that the 'challenge today is […] not to attempt moving out of the crisis of capitalism, but to start moving out of capitalism in crisis'. Indeed, from the cyclical depressions through history to Covid-19 induced lockdowns throughout the world, capitalism has been in incessant crises. Amin's ability to weave together thorough analysis of the polarising effects of capitalism with concrete political projects for an international radical left makes his work particularly relevant in our quest to understand capitalism, its particularities across the world, and oppositions to it. There is a younger generation of scholars that is particularly hungry for Amin's perspectives, one that came of age in a time when the universities have been thoroughly marketised and moulded by neoliberal processes, and where intellectual production and debates are not necessarily embedded within social struggles. The pertinence and analytical heft of Amin's critique of capitalism may be particularly important in the contemporary period marked by the interconnected crises related to Covid-19, Black Lives Matter, the climate emergency, and looming debt crises across the periphery. In the years ahead, confronting these multiple and intertwined crises will require the kind of commitment to combining research with political engagement that Amin demonstrated. This special issue seeks to stimulate critical engagement with Amin's work from a range of perspectives, and to show how his concepts and ways of thinking continue to inspire today. We are not offering any definite answers or a comprehensive overview of Amin's wideranging and vast intellectual oeuvre. Rather, we want to open up a space, across disciplines and generations, to reflect on how Amin's work challenges our thinking, and how his approach and concepts can be used, critiqued and expanded in various contexts. For Samir Amin's account of his personal journey and how and why his Marxism develops in the way it does, see his two-volume autobiography (Amin 2006, 2019b). Amin pushes us to think creatively in structural, temporal and political ways that often defy disciplinary boundaries. The combination of truly global perspectives with analysis that is finely contextualised within particular geographical locations, and mindful of the complex nature of political conflicts and different class interests, makes his contributions to dependency theory especially rich. His ability to show how development and underdevelopment are inextri...
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