https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/763 Wed, 15 Apr 2026 00:26:08 GMT 2026-04-15T00:26:08Z https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/4645 Title: Gendering conflict and violence in Zimbabwe, 1960-2013: the case of Bulawayo Metropolitan Province Authors: King, Monica Dorothy Abstract: The problem of political violence permeated the landscape of Zimbabwe, during both the colonial and post-colonial periods. The questions tackled were: are perpetrators of violence men or women or both? Do the victims of political violence constitute of men or women? To what extent are women as compared to men perpetrators of violence? In what forms and contexts has the problem manifested itself? What are the mechanisms that have been used to resolve conflicts? By focusing on Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, the thesis examined the political violence which was perpetrated during the period 1960-2013. The study argued that in Zimbabwe from the colonial to the post-colonial era, political conflicts involved both men and women differently. It interrogated the contention that in conflict situations men are the perpetrators while women are weak and vulnerable to victimhood. An examination of different cases of violence that transpired in the racist context of colonial Zimbabwe and in the black dominated post-colonial era revealed that both men and women can be perpetrators or victims, depending on the typology of violence prevailing. Using the case of Bulawayo, incidences of colonial racialized political violence as well as post-colonial incidences of political violence, the study established the differential experience and participation in violence by women compared to men. It established that the story of gendered participation in different typologies of political violence defies the simplistic categorisation of men as perpetrators and women as victims. The narrative is more nuanced given that men show a preponderance as both perpetrators and victims in some cases more than women while in other cases women are active agents who equally perpetrate violence in so much as they are victims in other cases. For instance, in protests against the 1961 Constitution, women in Bulawayo instigated political violence by demonstrating outside the Magistrate Court, thereby prompting the colonial state to arrest 75 of them. The violence of the Second Chimurenga involved both men and women as they fought against colonial oppression. During the post-colonial era both men and women were victims of violence- notable episodes of such violence were the ‘Gukurahundi’ of the 1980s and Operation Murambatsvina of 2005. To problematize the phenomenon of political violence, the thesis used Slavoj Zizek’s ideas on violence as well as Max Weber’s Conflict Theory. In analysing the conflict resolution mechanisms, the thesis used Galtungs’s ideas of positive and negative peace. The study revealed that the agreements to end political conflicts in Zimbabwe deployed negative peace methodologies. Furthermore, the thesis concludes that to solve political conflicts in Zimbabwe one needs to use conflict resolution mechanisms that uproot the causes of the conflicts. Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/4645 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z King, Monica Dorothy https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/2878 Title: Did children matter? : unprotected children in “protected villages” created by the Rhodesian regime during the liberation struggle for Zimbabwe, (1970-1979) Authors: Mazambani, Ishmael Abstract: This thesis provides a historical analysis of the plight of children who were the most vulnerable group and unprotected inside Protected Villages (PVs). It contributes to the historiography of the liberation struggle in Zimbabwe with special focus on experiences of children inside Protected Villages (PVs/Keeps). PVs were first established in 1973 by the Rhodesian Government as a counter-insurgency strategy to isolate the guerrillas. The thesis further unmasks the official Rhodesian justification of the establishment of Keeps, captures the African perspectives on Keeps, and articulates the psychological ramifications of life inside Keeps on children and the humanitarian crisis faced by caged children. The thesis is empirically grounded in various case studies of Keeps across Rhodesia. The experience of children inside Keeps remains under-researched in Zimbabwean historiography. The thesis contends that children inside PVs deserve serious historical investigation in order to understand and appreciate the fact that children were not spared by war. The thesis demonstrates empirically that children were military targets and were caught-up in the middle as the Rhodesian regime and the guerrillas used violence and coercion as a military and survival strategy. Keeps exposed children to sexual abuse, diseases, hunger, shortages and other vices associated with horrific conditions inside these punishment enclosures. The thesis is based on extensive oral testimonies of former inmates, archival sources, secondary sources and official Rhodesian sources. The thesis subverts the Rhodesian colonial propaganda that Keeps were established for humanitarian reasons as safe havens which protected children in particular and African people in general. The thesis is anchored in the deconstructive approach. Colonial and nationalist narratives of Protected Villages will be deconstructed and a new narrative by those who were children inside them will be constructed. Primary and secondary sources were used in the construction of this new narrative. Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/2878 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z Mazambani, Ishmael https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/2754 Title: Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle era conflicts and the pitfalls of reconciliation after independence: a case study of Bikita district 1976-2013. Authors: Goredema, Dorothy Abstract: This study interrogates the dynamics of conflict resolution, healing and reconciliation in Zimbabwe using Bikita as a case study. It identifies and critiques state driven approaches used by the Zimbabwean government such as blanket amnesties, deliberate amnesia and presidential pardons among others, to promote healing and reconciliation in the aftermath of the 1970s liberation war and in the post-independence electoral violence. My central argument is that state-driven approaches alone have not provide sustainable solutions to challenges facing communities emerging from violent conflict unless they are co-ordinated and harmonized with indigenous approaches. Bikita demonstrated that conflict destroys physical property as well as the social, emotional and psychological capital leaving victims insecure and traumatized. In cases such as these, state-driven approaches alone are inadequate to heal and reconcile conflicting parties. They lack the necessary mechanisms to reach and heal the emotional, spiritual and psychological aspects of the conflict hence the need for multifaceted and interactive interventions if sustainable reconciliation is to be achieved. Bikita demonstrated that indigenous approaches such as kuripa mhosva/ ngozi. (payment for one`s crime or the appeasement of avenging spirits) dare (the chief`s court), and the performing of burial rituals such as kurova guva and kudzosa mweya wemufi mumusha (rituals to bring back home the spirit of one who dies away from home) among others are holistic and can attend to both the physical and psychological aspects of the conflict, thereby filling the gap left out by state-driven approaches. Furthermore, the approaches are deeply embedded in the people`s culture hence the community has a strong sense of ownership of, and belonging to, them. I also seek to recast discourses on healing and reconciliation in Zimbabwe. Most works argue for institutional transformation, a perspective which does not pay much attention to the history, cultural nuances, wounds, emotions and deeply rooted perceptions of the violated communities. By drawing on the lived experiences of the people of Bikita, the study reveals everyday practices and local perspectives of justice and culturally sensitive methods of healing and reconciliation. The study is qualitative in nature. This was preferred given that the research sought to understand lived experiences of those directly involved in the period under study. Oral interviews, focus group discussions and testimonies on people`s experiences, feelings, views, perceptions, and interpretation about the events under study were complemented by written documents, academic, government and nongovernmental reports Thu, 01 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMT https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/2754 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z Goredema, Dorothy https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/1880 Title: A historical study of Zimbabwe’s African Elite: configurations, networks and transitions c.1900-2013 Authors: Tarugarira, Gilbert Abstract: This thesis employs ‘elite’ and social capital as analytical tools to explore the history of African elite formation and the development of power relations within a socio-economic and political context in Zimbabwe. Using the case of elites from the Gutu district of southern Zimbabwe the thesis traces patterns of social differentiation and mutation of elite organisation. Besides unpacking the diverse elite groups, I seek to explore elitist modes of social reproduction and transmission of privileged positions in society. Contrasting patterns of recruitment and selection in terms of career paths, the relative influence, visibility, power and prestige of different elite groups are considered. The thesis underscores that networking contacts among the elites occurred both formally and informally. My central argument is that within the diversity of elite typologies, networks facilitated resource mobilization and ultimate access to power. This is largely viewed through the prevalence of elitist enclaves and clusters and their interaction with socio-economic and political environments in both country and town settings. Many of the individuals referred to in this study were pluralists of power who held influential positions in a number of elite groups. The thesis contends that due to elite ‘interlock’, intra-and extra socio-economic and political networks were established towards the realization of material rewards and privileges. I pursue these network concerns to develop insights into how new forms of inequality are created. Antonio Gramsci’s theory is used to draw attention to the question of hegemony in an attempt to reconcile perceived notions concerning the development and functions of elite groups in relation to serving the wider public and their endeavour to enhance and maintain power. The study reveals that while the elite continuously seek to acquire more resources through networking and predatory means, strategies deployed in manufacturing selves are generally embedded in a continuum from pre-colonial to post-colonial historical contexts. The qualitative nature of the research afforded the convergence of information from oral and archival sources as well as documents and texts. Description: A Thesis by Dr Gilbert Tarugarira a Lecturer in the Department of Historical Studies, Midlands State University Tue, 01 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMT https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/1880 2016-11-01T00:00:00Z Tarugarira, Gilbert