Dictatorships, disasters, and African soccer: reflections on a moment in Zimbabwean soccer

Muponde, Robert; Muchemwa, Kizito Z.

doi:10.1080/14725843.2011.591227

Cited by 13 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…As Alegi puts it, ‘while European colonisers intended for sport to prop up their self proclaimed “civilising mission” in Africa, they unwittingly created new opportunities for various forms of African resistance, not only against social inequalities within African communities’ (Alegi, 2010: 22; Zenenga, 2012). Africans chanted protest songs and used symbols and gestures to mock colonial authority in football stadiums (Muponde and Muchemwa, 2011). As Stuart, in Darby (2002: 19) says, ‘from the post war periods onwards, soccer at different times became an embodiment of the political aspirations of the African people’.…”

Section: Football and Politics: The Past Mirrors The Presentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The academic study of the discourse of popular sports such as football is still emerging on the African continent (Pannenborg, 2010) and Zimbabwe is no exception. Important beginnings have been made by Stuart and Wagg (1995), Giulianotti (2004), Alegi (2010), Bloomfield (2010), Muponde and Muchemwa (2011), Zenenga (2012) and Willems (2013). This study therefore seeks to complement the already existing work providing an insight on the centrality of popular sport in Zimbabwean politics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Thus the MDC-T team appealed to the referee to stamp his authority by red-carding the 'rogue' players, especially Mugabe the team captain, in order to allow fair play to prevail. Muponde and Muchemwa (2011) submit that the red card and the referee's whistle are the central tokens for the desired change and the tools for managing and enforcing political change in Zimbabwe. They become a way of punishing Mugabe and his allies for lack of sportsmanship (Muponde and Muchemwa, 2011).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Muponde and Muchemwa (2011) submit that the red card and the referee's whistle are the central tokens for the desired change and the tools for managing and enforcing political change in Zimbabwe. They become a way of punishing Mugabe and his allies for lack of sportsmanship (Muponde and Muchemwa, 2011). What is also worth noting is the shifting role of the people in this game.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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‘Bhora MugedhiversusBhora musango’: The interface between football discourse and Zimbabwean politics

Ncube

2014

International Review for the Sociology of Sport

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Football is the most popular sport in Zimbabwe and across the globe. It has been asserted elsewhere that the game is not limited to scoring goals on the pitch but that this also occurs in politics and power struggles. This study explores the interface between football discourse and politics during elections in Zimbabwe in July 2013. The study is based on the premise of a neo-Gramscian perspective which views popular culture (including football) as a terrain of ideological struggle. It utilises an ethnographic approach to make a 'thick description' of the relationship between football discourse and contemporary Zimbabwean politics. The study employs critical discourse analysis on purposively selected political campaign speeches, political advertisements, songs by politicians, and comments posted and circulated in social media such as Facebook and Whatsapp during and after the election period by 'ordinary' Zimbabweans. The findings suggest that political parties, specifically the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) appropriated football images, symbols, metaphors and discourses in their campaign communications. Zimbabwe symbolically became a football pitch where these two main rivals battled to score political points. 'Ordinary' Zimbabweans resembled the fans and/referees in the game whose vote symbolically became the act of scoring goals for ZANU PF; while for MDC-T it was akin to giving a red card to the ZANU PF party.

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Section: Football and Politics: The Past Mirrors The Presentmentioning

confidence: 99%