The urban roots of democracy and political violence in Zimbabwe : Harare and Highfield, 1940-1964 / Timothy Scarnecchia.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Scarnecchia, Timothy, author.

Series:

Rochester studies in African history and the diaspora.

Rochester studies in African history and the diaspora, 1092-5228

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mzingeli, Charles.

Democracy--Zimbabwe--History.

Democracy.

Political violence--Zimbabwe--History.

Political violence.

Political culture--Zimbabwe--History.

Political culture.

Zimbabwe--Politics and government--1890-1965.

Zimbabwe.

Harare (Zimbabwe)--Politics and government.

Harare (Zimbabwe).

Highfield (Zimbabwe)--Politics and government.

Highfield (Zimbabwe).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 220 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

The Urban Roots of Democracy & Political Violence in Zimbabwe

Place of Publication:

Suffolk : Boydell & Brewer, 2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

'The Urban Roots of Democracy and Political Violence in Zimbabwe' details a democratic tradition developed in the 1940s and 1950s, and a movement that would fall victim to an increasingly elitist and divisive political culture by the 1960s. Providing biographical sketches of key personalities within the genealogy of nationalist politics, Timothy Scarnecchia weaves an intricate narrative that traces the trajectories of earlier democratic traditions in Zimbabwe, including women's political movements, township organizations, and trade unions. This work suggests that intense rivalries for control of the nationalist leadership after 1960, the 'sell-out' politics of that period, and Cold War funding for rival groups contributed to a unique political impasse, ultimately resulting in the largely autocratic and violent political state today. The author further proposes that this recourse to political violence, 'top-down' nationalism, and the abandonment of urban democratic traditions are all hallmarks of a particular type of nationalism equally unsustainable in Zimbabwe then as it is now. Timothy Scarnecchia is assistant professor of African history at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio.

Contents:

Charles Mzingeli's leadership and imperial working-class citizenship

Township protest politics

Resistance to the Urban Areas Act and women's political influence

Changing tactics : youth league politics and the end of accommodation

The early sixties : violent protests and "sellout" politics

The "imperialist stooge" and new levels of "sellout" political violence

The ZAPU-ZANU split and the battlegrounds of Harare and Highfield.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 02 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. [203]-209) and index.

ISBN:

1-283-01130-1

9786613011305

1-58046-752-0

OCLC:

705538910