Forced removals and hidden power: involuntary displacement and resettlement in Marange

Abstract

In Marange, mining related displacement has exacted severe social, environmental and economic costs on vulnerable and marginalised communities, eroding fragile livelihoods and breaking many of the intra-community bonds and cohesions which in the past have helped communities to weather challenges to their economic and environmental sustainability.

This chapter examines one particularly disruptive form of displacement that took place in Marange with the development of mechanised mining: the involuntary forced removal and resettlement of Chiadzwa villagers in preparation for new mining installations. In the case studied here, a total of 600 families were moved during May-December 2011 and resettled at a...