Zimbabwean human rights historiography often assumes that pre- colonial African politics were democratic; whilst colonialism implies a total denial of human rights. It further assumes that Zimbabwean nationalism was in essence a human rights movement; and that the liberation struggle, which led to the overthrow of colonial oppression, reinstated both human rights and democracy. This, the second volume on the historical dimensions of human rights in Africa, reconsiders questions of nationalism, democracy and human rights. It asks why the first 'democratic revolution' was frustrated in Africa, despite the democratic dimensions of the early nationalist movements. It considers possible causes of the resulting post-independence authoritarianism in Zimbabwe as centralism, top-down modernisation, or 'development'; and it reviews the outcomes of a commandist state. Common themes running through the book are the ambiguities and antitheses which concepts of nationalism and democracy imply; and the delicate, but necessary balancing which discourse on majoritarian democracy and human rights is bound to produce. This in-depth historical analysis by some of Zimbabwe's leading intellectuals and academics sheds essential light on some of the conflicts, traumas and human rights dilemmas that the country is experiencing at present.

This volume explores the prehistory of human rights in Zimbabwe. It asks whether there are democratic legacies from pre-colonial polities and what limitations then existed on human rights. It also asks what colonialism contributed to the discourse of human rights and democracy despite its denial of both to Africans. Contents: pre- colonial states of Central Africa as embodiments of despotic culture; archaeological evidence of political structures; democracy and traditional political structure 1890-1999; imperial and settler hypocrisy and double standards and the denial of human rights; black elite responses to ideologies of democracy; the law courts in Rhodesia; interaction between white and black trade unionism; and the Build a Nation campaign, 1961-62.

Journalism, Democracy, and Human Rights in Zimbabwe provides an empirical analysis of Zimbabwe’s ongoing state of affairs. Bruce Mutsvairo and Cleophas T. Muneri examine the intersection between journalism, democracy, and human rights to historicize and critique past successes and failures that have played out in Zimbabwe’s past, as well as interrogate future challenges that await the nation’s quest for democratization. The authors examine what role citizen journalists, human rights activists, professional journalists, and social media dissents could potentially play toward ending the country’s current adversity. Scholars of journalism, media studies, communication, African studies, and political science will find this book particularly useful.

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."--BOOK JACKET.

A team of scholars examine the radical political changes that have taken place since 1990 in eleven key countries in Africa. Radical changes have taken place in Africa since 1990. What are the realities of these changes? What significant differences have emerged between African countries? What is the future for democracy in the continent? The editors have chosen eleven key countries to provide enlightening comparisons and contrasts to stimulate discussion among students. They have brought together a team of scholars who are actively working in the changing Africa of today.Each chapter is structured around a framing event which defines the experience of democratisation. The editors have provided an overview of the turning points in African politics. They engage with debates on how to study andevaluate democracy in Africa, such as the limits of elections. They identify four major themes with which to examine similarities and divergences as well as to explain change and continuity in what happened in the past. Abdul Raufu Mustapha is University Lecturer in African Politics at Queen Elizabeth House and Kirk-Greene Fellow at St Antony's College, University of Oxford; Lindsay Whitfield is a Research Fellow at the Danish Institute of International Studies, Copenhagen.

Inspired by the events leading up to the overthrow of Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda's Life Presidency, this book explores the deep logic of Malawi's political culture as it emerged in the colonial and early post-colonial periods. It draws on archival sources from three continents and oral testimonies gathered over a ten-year period provided by those who lived these events. Power narrates how anti-colonial protest was made relevant to the African majority through the painstaking engagement of politicians in local grievances and struggles, which they then linked to the fight against white settler domination in the guise of the Central African Federation. She also explores how Dr. Banda (leader of independent Malawi for thirty years), the Nyasaland African Congress, and its successor, the Malawi Congress Party, functioned within this political culture, and how the MCP became a formidable political machine. Central to this process was the deployment of women and youth to cut across parochial politics and consolidate a broad base of support. No less important was the deliberate manipulation of history and the use of rumor and innuendo, symbol and pageantry, persecution and reward. It was this mix that made people both accept and reject the MCP regime, sometimes simultaneously. Joey Power is Professor of History at Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario.