Violence in its various proportions, genres and manifestations has had an enduring historical legacy the world over. However, works speaking to approaches aimed at mitigating violence characteristic of Africa are very limited. As some scholars have noted, Africans have experienced cycles of violence since the pre-colonial epoch, such that overt violence has become banalised on the African continent. This has had the effect of generating complex results, legacies and perennial emotional wounds that call for healing, reconciliation, justice and positive peace. Yet, in the absence of systematic and critical approaches to the study of violence on the continent, discourses on violence would hardly challenge the global matrices of violence that threaten peace and development in Africa. This volume is a contribution in the direction of such urgently needed systematic and critical approaches. It interrogates, from different angles and with inspiration from a multidisciplinary perspective, the contentious production and resilience of violence in Africa. It calls for a paradigm shift – an alternative approach that forges and merges African customary dispute resolution and Western systems of dispute resolution – towards a framework of positive peace, holistic restoration, sustainable development and equity. The book is a welcome contribution to students and practitioners in security studies, African studies, development studies, global studies, policy studies, and political science.

Violence in its various proportions, genres and manifestations has had an enduring historical legacy the world over. However, works speaking to approaches aimed at mitigating violence characteristic of Africa are very limited. As some scholars have noted, Africans have experienced cycles of violence since the pre-colonial epoch, such that overt violence has become banalised on the African continent. This has had the effect of generating complex results, legacies and perennial emotional wounds that call for healing, reconciliation, justice and positive peace. Yet, in the absence of systematic and critical approaches to the study of violence on the continent, discourses on violence would hardly challenge the global matrices of violence that threaten peace and development in Africa. This volume is a contribution in the direction of such urgently needed systematic and critical approaches. It interrogates, from different angles and with inspiration from a multidisciplinary perspective, the contentious production and resilience of violence in Africa. It calls for a paradigm shift an alternative approach that forges and merges African customary dispute resolution and Western systems of dispute resolution towards a framework of positive peace, holistic restoration, sustainable development and equity. The book is a welcome contribution to students and practitioners in security studies, African studies, development studies, global studies, policy studies, and political science.

One of the oldest survival pursuits undertaken by the weak and the downtrodden people across the world has been begging. Going back to the ancient Christian biblical times up to the present epoch as well as across varying spatial settings, in situations of trouble and tribulations, parts of various communities have resorted to beggary to either overcome immediate adversities or longer term calamities. Drawing on insights from two polar theoretical lenses of Social Constructionism and Social Deconstructionism, and guided by a pithy study of the begging across the African continent especially by Zimbabweans, this book troubles the various contours related to the subject of begging. Inter alia, the book considers the concept of begging, the causes of the prevalence of begging across the world and particularly among Zimbabweans, the challenges and benefits associated with the pursuit of alms, the impact of begging in foreign lands as well as some of the strategies that beggars employ to maximize their collections and/ or profits. What can be discerned from the book is that for many, begging is one of the last resort undertakings with low pickings. However, from a utilitarian perspective, begging has helped to sustain the impoverished livelihoods of Zimbabweans, both inside and outside the borders of the country since the advent of a debilitating crisis experienced from the turn of the new millennium. On the whole, this book seeks to provoke further researches on an important socio-economic area that affects many African communities but has so far been scantily researched. The book is handy for students and practitioners in economic history, African studies, economics, risk and disaster management, social anthropology, political science, and development studies.

This book makes a significant contribution by initiating debate on the state of human rights, freedoms and civil liberties in the context of emergencies such as pandemics in general and Covid-19 in particular. It is without doubt that as the world was preoccupied with combating the Covid-19 pandemic, issues of rights, freedoms and liberties in the context of this struggle increasingly came under close scrutiny. The book is for students and practitioners across fields, but most especially in history, law, political science, development studies, philosophy, social anthropology and sociology.

Morgan Richard Tsvangirai is arguably the most polarising figure and advocate of democracy and human rights in the history of opposition politics in Zimbabwe. He is as much a topic of debate in Zimbabwe and beyond as the late president Robert Gabriel Mugabe. Tsvangirai's legacy, like Mugabe's, remains indisputably controversial and conflicted. Broadly, the divided opinion on the Tsvangirai legacy can be represented, firstly, by those who argue that Tsvangirai was the champion of democracy and the face of the struggle for human rights in Zimbabwe. In this light, Tsvangirai has been variously described as a "selfless...people's hero", a "colossus of the struggle for democracy", "the commander of the struggle", "a symbol of courage and resistance", and "the doyen of constitutionalism" in Zimbabwe. On the other hand, critics have described Tsvangirai as a "sell-out", "a Judas Iscariot", "traitor", and "coward", among other nefarious and pejorative characterisations. Drawing on all these opinions and the various characterisations of Tsvangirai, this book provides a comprehensive and multi-disciplinary appraisal of a gigantic trade unionist and political figure who, in his life and in death, inspires different narratives, emotions and values. This book is therefore about a mortal but "living" figure who left an indelible mark on Zimbabwe, Africa and the rest of the world in fields such as trade unionism, governance and politics. As such, the book is handy for students and practitioners in African studies, political science, policy studies, economics, history, global studies and development studies.

This book is empirically grounded on Zimbabwe and looks at hate speech as a bad omen for any society, family, nation and organisation. Hate speech divides and kills any peace, unity, tolerance, inclusivity, philosophy, race and geographical area, sacred places of worship, freedoms, identities, culture, unity and development in any space. It is not a good recipe for both animate and inanimate. It is never a solution to be applied in any geographical location. Hate speech, conflict and violence usually go together. The book clearly shows that, hate speech must never be tolerated in any religion, space (both private and public spaces), scriptures, society and nation. It is poisonous and manifests in different forms such as language (verbal or electronic), discriminations, beliefs, practices, laws, censorship, graffiti and even physical assault.

With the heated discussion around #MeToo, journalistic reporting on domestic abuse, and the popularity of true crime documentaries, gendered media discourse around violence and harassment has never been more prominent. The Routledge Companion to Gender, Media and Violence is an outstanding reference source to the key topics, problems and debates in this important subject and is the first collection on media and violence to take a gendered, intersectional approach. Comprising over 50 chapters by a team of interdisciplinary and international contributors, the book is structured around the following parts: News Representing reality Gender-based violence online Feminist responses The media examples examined range from Australia to Zimbabwe and span print and online news, documentary film and television, podcasts, pornography, memoir, comedy, memes, influencer videos, and digital feminist protest. Types of violence considered include domestic abuse, "honour"-based violence, sexual violence and harassment, female genital mutilation/cutting, child sexual abuse, transphobic violence, and the aftermath of conflict. Good practice is considered in relation to both responsible news reporting and pedagogy. The Routledge Companion to Gender, Media and Violence is essential reading for students and researchers in Gender Studies, Media Studies, Sociology, and Criminology.