Tyranny, parody, and ethnic polarity: ritual engagements with the state in Northwestern Zimbabwe

Abstract

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Crafting the Public Sphere in the Forests of West Bengal: Democracy, Development, and Political Action

“…The performative inscription of statemaking by local cultural practice that I have described here has interesting parallels in other postcolonial contexts of development Fora comparable discussion, see, for instance, Worby 1998 and his discussion of minor theaters of power in rural Zimbabwe. The performative inscription of statemaking by local cultural practice that I have described here has interesting parallels in other postcolonial contexts of development Fora comparable discussion, see, for instance, Worby 1998 and his discussion of minor theaters of power in rural Zimbabwe.…”

“Settlers” and Zimbabwe: Politics, Memory, and the Anthropology of Commercial Farms During a Time of Crisis

“…As John and Jean Comaroff note (1999: 23-24), the inequities of colonial liberalism marginalized many more from participation in the public sphere than those it allowed in (see also Comaroff and Comaroff 1997: 365-404;Worby 1998;Scott 1999;and Rutherford 2004). However, it is also of interest to look at how participation for some recognized "citizens" was partially predicated on their good deeds toward those subjected under colonialism, those marginalized from the colonial public sphere.…”

“…In addition to this harsh form of labor discipline, and in contrast to Africans in the native reserves who were increasingly subjected to a paternalistic form of governmentality of "modernization" by the Native Affairs Department along both racialized and ethnicized lines (e.g., Alexander et al 2000;Moore 1999;Worby 1998Worby , 2000, farm workers were officially "domesticated" under white masters. Responsibility for their behavior and upkeep rested with European settlers, with limited state oversight.…”

“…A number of commentators have perceptively and critically unpacked the symbolic and physical violence of this imagination on: differently situated Zimbabwean women (Sylvester 2000); workers and others who have challenged ZANU (PF) hegemony (Raftopoulos 2001); declared ethnic minorities, particularly those who were violently attacked in the Midlands and Matabeleland provinces from 1982-1987Werbner 1991Werbner , 1998; the majority of black farmers in Communal Lands and resettlement lands who have continued to be on the margins of sovereignty (Moore 1999), the sites where the ludic play of parody and conviviality of African postcolonial politics is performed (Worby 1998). In so doing, these scholars astutely show how such situated individuals and groups draw on counter-memories and alternative identifications forged out of gendered domains, ethnicized practices, kin ties, democratization movements, and/or territorial religions in hybridizing the imposed national public of the postcolonial state.…”

Reinvoking the past in the present: changing identities and appropriations of Joshua Nkomo in post-colonial Zimbabwe

“…What became known as Gukurahundi (literally refers to the early spring rains which separate the chaff from the wheat) resulted in the massacre of an estimated 20,000 Ndebele-speaking people (cf. Alexander et al 2000;CCJP and LRF 1997;Werbner 1991;Worby 1998;Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2003). Although some dissidents were involved in acts of violence, human rights groups have estimated that 98 percent of the victims of the violence were killed by government (CCJP and LRF 1997: 156-157).…”