Brian Raftopoulos
Biographic Data
| ID | 100499 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Brian Raftopoulos |
| GIVEN NAMES | Brian |
| FAMILY NAME | Raftopoulos |
| SIGNATURE | RAFTOPOULOS B |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Zimbabwe |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 179 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1992 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Muchaparara Musemwa, Water History and Politics in Zimbabwe: Bulawayo's Struggles with the Environment 1894-2008
Zimbabwe Institute of Development Studies (Zids): The Early Context of Sam Moyo's Intellectual Development
One of the key sites of Sam Moyo's early intellectual development was the Zimbabwe Institute of Development Studies (ZIDS). Established by the newly independent Zimbabwean government in the early 1980s to provide an alternative intellectual space for considering socialist policy alternatives, the Institute was subject both to the opportunities and to challenges of state politics. In his work at ZIDS, Sam drew on a long history of radical politica…
Terence Ranger's Return to the University of Zimbabwe in the Late 1990s
I first met Terry at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London in 1979, when he presented his paper on Mugabe and the revival of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU).1 I had
Zimbabwean Politics in the Post-2013 Election Period
The 2013 elections in Zimbabwe confirmed the grip of Mugabe and ZANU-PF on Zimbabwean politics. The electoral outcome was the result of a combination of factors that included not only the long-term legacy of ZANU-PF's coercive politics, constructed through a radical nationalist discourse, but also the changes in the social structure of the country as a result of the reconfiguration of Zimbabwe's political economy since the late 1990s. In the afte…
'Progress' in Zimbabwe?: The Past and Present of a Concept and a Country
1. Progress, power, and violent accumulation in Zimbabwe 2. ZANU PF politics under Zimbabwe's 'Power-Sharing' Government 3. Narratives of progress: Zimbabwean historiography and the end of history 4. Civil society and state-centred struggles 5. Anti-developmental patrimonialism in Zimbabwe 6. Foreign investment, black economic empowerment and militarised patronage politics in Zimbabwe 7. Teachers' and bank workers' responses to Zimbabwe's crisis:…
The 2013 Elections in Zimbabwe: The End of an Era
The July 31st 2013 Elections in Zimbabwe ushered in a renewed period of political \ndomination by ZANU(PF) and its President, Robert Mugabe. This election followed five years \nof a SADC- facilitated Global Political Agreement (GPA), which was put into place after a \ncontested presidential run-off election in June 2008. The recent elections, which once again \nestablished ZANU(PF)’s mastery over the country’s political domain, were passed as fre…
Whiteness in Zimbabwe: Race, landscape and the problem of belonging
There has been some excellent historical work on landscape in Zimbabwe since the late 1990s. Along with Terence Ranger's wonderful study of the Matopo Hills in Matabeleland in 1999, JoAnn McGregor's recent magisterial study of the Zambezi River (Crossing the Zambezi: The politics of landscape on a Central African frontier, 2009) has provided a solid basis for further work in this area. With this book by David Hughes, Zimbabwean studies now has a …
Responses to Debating Becoming Zimbabwe
Here, Alois Mlambo and Brian Raftopoulos, as editors of Becoming Zimbabwe, offer their responses to the comments, issues and concerns raised by the other contributors, and express their thanks for their engaging interventions. As they explain, for them 'Becoming Zimbabwe combines two purposes. It is an attempt to draw on and synthesise the impressive and growing historiography on Zimbabwe, and in this sense the book is a certain kind of culminati…
Outside the Third Chimurenga: The Challenges of Writing a National History of Zimbabwe
In an attempt to come to terms with the complexities of Zimbabwe's current crisis, the book Becoming Zimbabwe (2009) presents a long-term critical assessment of Zimbabwe's past. From an unpackaging of major political identities such as the 'Shona', 'Ndebele' and 'white settlers', the book situates these constructions in the context of the changing politics and political economies of pre-colonial polities, imperial intervention, settler colonialis…
The Global Political Agreement as a ‘Passive Revolution’: Notes on Contemporary Politics in Zimbabwe
The Global Political Agreement (GPA) signed between the two Movements for Democratic Change and the Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) set the change for a new set of political dynamics in Zimbabwe. Although it has not transformed the coercive base of ZANU-PF's support, it has led to new battles for state power and changes in the strategies of the major political parties. The discussion below uses the great Italian Marxist …
The Crisis in Zimbabwe, 1998–2008
Becoming Zimbabwe. A History from the Pre-colonial Period to 2008: A History from the Pre-colonial Period to 2008
Desperately Seeking Sanity: What Prospects for a New Beginning in Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe's Harmonised Elections on 29 March 2008 the ruling party ZANU-PF suffered defeat in the parliamentary elections for the first time since 1980. Robert Mugabe also lost the first round of the presidential elections, indicating that both he and his party were facing the prospect of losing state power. The lack of an outright presidential winner in the first round of the elections necessitated a runoff election at the end of June 2008. Wh…
The Zimbabwean Crisis and the Challenges for the Left
The Zimbabwean crisis has generated a great deal of academic and political debate, not the least of which has been conflicting perspectives from the Left. While the politics of land redistribution has been characterised by some as a key marker of anti-imperialist and anti-neoliberal politics, others have been equally concerned about the authoritarian politics that has been the modality for the land interventions of the Mugabe regime. This article…
Zimbabwe Now: The Political Economy of Crisis and Coercion
Mugabe, Mbeki & the politics of anti-imperialism
There can be little doubt that one of the most significant aspects of the current crisis in Zimbabwe, especially the events of the past two or three years, has been its international character. At the heart of President Robert Mugabe's offensive against the array of forces opposed to his rule are repeated attempts to place the Zimbabwe problem at the centre of a larger anti-imperialist and Pan-African position. These tactics have been crucial to …
Briefing: Zimbabwe's 2002 Presidential Election
Journal Article Briefing: Zimbabwe's 2002 Presidential Election Get access Brian Raftopoulos Brian Raftopoulos Brian Raftopoulos is Associate Professor, Institute of Development Studies, University of Zimbabwe. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar African Affairs, Volume 101, Issue 404, 1 July 2002, Pages 413–426, https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/101.404.413 Published: 01 July 2002
Sites of Struggle: Essays in Zimbabwe's Urban History
Sites of Struggle: Essays in Zimbabwe's Urban History
De l'émancipation du mouvement syndical à l'affirmation du MDC
Le très bon score du MDC aux élections de juin 2000, en dépit de la violence entretenue par le parti au pouvoir et de la jeunesse de ce mouvement, ne peut se comprendre qu'à travers la genèse de l'opposition politique, en particulier la longue maturation du mouvement syndical. L'évolution des relations entre le régime et les syndicats depuis 1980, d'une collaboration étroite à l'affrontement ouvert, puis l'alliance formée par ces derniers avec la…
Kana sora ratswa ngaritswe: African Nationalists and Black Workers - The 1948 General Strike in Colonial Zimbabwe
For almost two weeks in April 1948 colonial Zimbabwe's two major cities, as well as smaller towns, mines and farms were convulsed by mass unrest. Although the causes of the General Strike have long been recognised as having their origins in the urban squalor and rampant inflation of the immediate post-war era, there is little agreement about either its organisation or its significance. Recent interventions in the debate have tended to strengthen …
Nationalism and labour in Salisbury 1953–1965
The demise of Charles Mzingeli and the Reformed Industrial and Commercial Union (R.I.C.U.) in Salisbury by the mid‐1950s, and the growth of mass nationalism, reflected important demographic and social changes in the city. These changes were the consequence of the changes on the land in the 1950s, resulting in the increasing movement of labour into Salisbury by the mid‐1950s. For the first time, from this period, the numbers of indigenous workers …
Beyond the house of hunger: Democratic struggle in Zimbabwe
In 1980, after more than a decade of armed liberation struggle, ZANU‐PF took power in Zimbabwe. The new government under President Mugabe became increasingly repressive, seeking to force opposition either into alliance with ZANU, or into silence. This authoritarian process appeared to be culminating in a formal one‐party presidentialist state, de facto one‐party rule having being achieved in the late 1980s. This article describes the process and …
Beyond the house of hunger: Democratic struggle in Zimbabwe
In 1980, after more than a decade of armed liberation struggle, ZANU‐PF took power in Zimbabwe. The new government under President Mugabe became increasingly repressive, seeking to force opposition either into alliance with ZANU, or into silence. This authoritarian process appeared to be culminating in a formal one‐party presidentialist state, de facto one‐party rule having being achieved in the late 1980s. This article describes the process and …
The Zimbabwean Crisis and the Challenges for the Left
The Zimbabwean crisis has generated a great deal of academic and political debate, not the least of which has been conflicting perspectives from the Left. While the politics of land redistribution has been characterised by some as a key marker of anti-imperialist and anti-neoliberal politics, others have been equally concerned about the authoritarian politics that has been the modality for the land interventions of the Mugabe regime. This article…
Zimbabwe Now: The Political Economy of Crisis and Coercion
Mugabe, Mbeki & the politics of anti-imperialism
There can be little doubt that one of the most significant aspects of the current crisis in Zimbabwe, especially the events of the past two or three years, has been its international character. At the heart of President Robert Mugabe's offensive against the array of forces opposed to his rule are repeated attempts to place the Zimbabwe problem at the centre of a larger anti-imperialist and Pan-African position. These tactics have been crucial to …
The Global Political Agreement as a ‘Passive Revolution’: Notes on Contemporary Politics in Zimbabwe
The Global Political Agreement (GPA) signed between the two Movements for Democratic Change and the Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) set the change for a new set of political dynamics in Zimbabwe. Although it has not transformed the coercive base of ZANU-PF's support, it has led to new battles for state power and changes in the strategies of the major political parties. The discussion below uses the great Italian Marxist …
The 2013 Elections in Zimbabwe: The End of an Era
The July 31st 2013 Elections in Zimbabwe ushered in a renewed period of political \ndomination by ZANU(PF) and its President, Robert Mugabe. This election followed five years \nof a SADC- facilitated Global Political Agreement (GPA), which was put into place after a \ncontested presidential run-off election in June 2008. The recent elections, which once again \nestablished ZANU(PF)’s mastery over the country’s political domain, were passed as fre…
Sites of Struggle: Essays in Zimbabwe's Urban History
Desperately Seeking Sanity: What Prospects for a New Beginning in Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe's Harmonised Elections on 29 March 2008 the ruling party ZANU-PF suffered defeat in the parliamentary elections for the first time since 1980. Robert Mugabe also lost the first round of the presidential elections, indicating that both he and his party were facing the prospect of losing state power. The lack of an outright presidential winner in the first round of the elections necessitated a runoff election at the end of June 2008. Wh…
Kana sora ratswa ngaritswe: African Nationalists and Black Workers - The 1948 General Strike in Colonial Zimbabwe
For almost two weeks in April 1948 colonial Zimbabwe's two major cities, as well as smaller towns, mines and farms were convulsed by mass unrest. Although the causes of the General Strike have long been recognised as having their origins in the urban squalor and rampant inflation of the immediate post-war era, there is little agreement about either its organisation or its significance. Recent interventions in the debate have tended to strengthen …
Briefing: Zimbabwe's 2002 Presidential Election
Journal Article Briefing: Zimbabwe's 2002 Presidential Election Get access Brian Raftopoulos Brian Raftopoulos Brian Raftopoulos is Associate Professor, Institute of Development Studies, University of Zimbabwe. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar African Affairs, Volume 101, Issue 404, 1 July 2002, Pages 413–426, https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/101.404.413 Published: 01 July 2002
Nationalism and labour in Salisbury 1953–1965
The demise of Charles Mzingeli and the Reformed Industrial and Commercial Union (R.I.C.U.) in Salisbury by the mid‐1950s, and the growth of mass nationalism, reflected important demographic and social changes in the city. These changes were the consequence of the changes on the land in the 1950s, resulting in the increasing movement of labour into Salisbury by the mid‐1950s. For the first time, from this period, the numbers of indigenous workers …
Beyond the house of hunger: Democratic struggle in Zimbabwe
In 1980, after more than a decade of armed liberation struggle, ZANU‐PF took power in Zimbabwe. The new government under President Mugabe became increasingly repressive, seeking to force opposition either into alliance with ZANU, or into silence. This authoritarian process appeared to be culminating in a formal one‐party presidentialist state, de facto one‐party rule having being achieved in the late 1980s. This article describes the process and …
Zimbabwean Politics in the Post-2013 Election Period
The 2013 elections in Zimbabwe confirmed the grip of Mugabe and ZANU-PF on Zimbabwean politics. The electoral outcome was the result of a combination of factors that included not only the long-term legacy of ZANU-PF's coercive politics, constructed through a radical nationalist discourse, but also the changes in the social structure of the country as a result of the reconfiguration of Zimbabwe's political economy since the late 1990s. In the afte…
Whiteness in Zimbabwe: Race, landscape and the problem of belonging
There has been some excellent historical work on landscape in Zimbabwe since the late 1990s. Along with Terence Ranger's wonderful study of the Matopo Hills in Matabeleland in 1999, JoAnn McGregor's recent magisterial study of the Zambezi River (Crossing the Zambezi: The politics of landscape on a Central African frontier, 2009) has provided a solid basis for further work in this area. With this book by David Hughes, Zimbabwean studies now has a …
Beyond the house of hunger: Democratic struggle in Zimbabwe
In 1980, after more than a decade of armed liberation struggle, ZANU‐PF took power in Zimbabwe. The new government under President Mugabe became increasingly repressive, seeking to force opposition either into alliance with ZANU, or into silence. This authoritarian process appeared to be culminating in a formal one‐party presidentialist state, de facto one‐party rule having being achieved in the late 1980s. This article describes the process and …
De l'émancipation du mouvement syndical à l'affirmation du MDC
Le très bon score du MDC aux élections de juin 2000, en dépit de la violence entretenue par le parti au pouvoir et de la jeunesse de ce mouvement, ne peut se comprendre qu'à travers la genèse de l'opposition politique, en particulier la longue maturation du mouvement syndical. L'évolution des relations entre le régime et les syndicats depuis 1980, d'une collaboration étroite à l'affrontement ouvert, puis l'alliance formée par ces derniers avec la…
Beyond the house of hunger: Democratic struggle in Zimbabwe
In 1980, after more than a decade of armed liberation struggle, ZANU‐PF took power in Zimbabwe. The new government under President Mugabe became increasingly repressive, seeking to force opposition either into alliance with ZANU, or into silence. This authoritarian process appeared to be culminating in a formal one‐party presidentialist state, de facto one‐party rule having being achieved in the late 1980s. This article describes the process and …
Beyond the house of hunger: Democratic struggle in Zimbabwe
In 1980, after more than a decade of armed liberation struggle, ZANU‐PF took power in Zimbabwe. The new government under President Mugabe became increasingly repressive, seeking to force opposition either into alliance with ZANU, or into silence. This authoritarian process appeared to be culminating in a formal one‐party presidentialist state, de facto one‐party rule having being achieved in the late 1980s. This article describes the process and …
Nationalism and labour in Salisbury 1953–1965
The demise of Charles Mzingeli and the Reformed Industrial and Commercial Union (R.I.C.U.) in Salisbury by the mid‐1950s, and the growth of mass nationalism, reflected important demographic and social changes in the city. These changes were the consequence of the changes on the land in the 1950s, resulting in the increasing movement of labour into Salisbury by the mid‐1950s. For the first time, from this period, the numbers of indigenous workers …
Kana sora ratswa ngaritswe: African Nationalists and Black Workers - The 1948 General Strike in Colonial Zimbabwe
For almost two weeks in April 1948 colonial Zimbabwe's two major cities, as well as smaller towns, mines and farms were convulsed by mass unrest. Although the causes of the General Strike have long been recognised as having their origins in the urban squalor and rampant inflation of the immediate post-war era, there is little agreement about either its organisation or its significance. Recent interventions in the debate have tended to strengthen …
Sites of Struggle: Essays in Zimbabwe's Urban History
De l'émancipation du mouvement syndical à l'affirmation du MDC
Le très bon score du MDC aux élections de juin 2000, en dépit de la violence entretenue par le parti au pouvoir et de la jeunesse de ce mouvement, ne peut se comprendre qu'à travers la genèse de l'opposition politique, en particulier la longue maturation du mouvement syndical. L'évolution des relations entre le régime et les syndicats depuis 1980, d'une collaboration étroite à l'affrontement ouvert, puis l'alliance formée par ces derniers avec la…
Briefing: Zimbabwe's 2002 Presidential Election
Journal Article Briefing: Zimbabwe's 2002 Presidential Election Get access Brian Raftopoulos Brian Raftopoulos Brian Raftopoulos is Associate Professor, Institute of Development Studies, University of Zimbabwe. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar African Affairs, Volume 101, Issue 404, 1 July 2002, Pages 413–426, https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/101.404.413 Published: 01 July 2002
Sites of Struggle: Essays in Zimbabwe's Urban History
Zimbabwe Now: The Political Economy of Crisis and Coercion
Mugabe, Mbeki & the politics of anti-imperialism
There can be little doubt that one of the most significant aspects of the current crisis in Zimbabwe, especially the events of the past two or three years, has been its international character. At the heart of President Robert Mugabe's offensive against the array of forces opposed to his rule are repeated attempts to place the Zimbabwe problem at the centre of a larger anti-imperialist and Pan-African position. These tactics have been crucial to …
The Zimbabwean Crisis and the Challenges for the Left
The Zimbabwean crisis has generated a great deal of academic and political debate, not the least of which has been conflicting perspectives from the Left. While the politics of land redistribution has been characterised by some as a key marker of anti-imperialist and anti-neoliberal politics, others have been equally concerned about the authoritarian politics that has been the modality for the land interventions of the Mugabe regime. This article…
Desperately Seeking Sanity: What Prospects for a New Beginning in Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe's Harmonised Elections on 29 March 2008 the ruling party ZANU-PF suffered defeat in the parliamentary elections for the first time since 1980. Robert Mugabe also lost the first round of the presidential elections, indicating that both he and his party were facing the prospect of losing state power. The lack of an outright presidential winner in the first round of the elections necessitated a runoff election at the end of June 2008. Wh…
The Crisis in Zimbabwe, 1998–2008
Becoming Zimbabwe. A History from the Pre-colonial Period to 2008: A History from the Pre-colonial Period to 2008
The Global Political Agreement as a ‘Passive Revolution’: Notes on Contemporary Politics in Zimbabwe
The Global Political Agreement (GPA) signed between the two Movements for Democratic Change and the Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) set the change for a new set of political dynamics in Zimbabwe. Although it has not transformed the coercive base of ZANU-PF's support, it has led to new battles for state power and changes in the strategies of the major political parties. The discussion below uses the great Italian Marxist …
Responses to Debating Becoming Zimbabwe
Here, Alois Mlambo and Brian Raftopoulos, as editors of Becoming Zimbabwe, offer their responses to the comments, issues and concerns raised by the other contributors, and express their thanks for their engaging interventions. As they explain, for them 'Becoming Zimbabwe combines two purposes. It is an attempt to draw on and synthesise the impressive and growing historiography on Zimbabwe, and in this sense the book is a certain kind of culminati…
Outside the Third Chimurenga: The Challenges of Writing a National History of Zimbabwe
In an attempt to come to terms with the complexities of Zimbabwe's current crisis, the book Becoming Zimbabwe (2009) presents a long-term critical assessment of Zimbabwe's past. From an unpackaging of major political identities such as the 'Shona', 'Ndebele' and 'white settlers', the book situates these constructions in the context of the changing politics and political economies of pre-colonial polities, imperial intervention, settler colonialis…
Whiteness in Zimbabwe: Race, landscape and the problem of belonging
There has been some excellent historical work on landscape in Zimbabwe since the late 1990s. Along with Terence Ranger's wonderful study of the Matopo Hills in Matabeleland in 1999, JoAnn McGregor's recent magisterial study of the Zambezi River (Crossing the Zambezi: The politics of landscape on a Central African frontier, 2009) has provided a solid basis for further work in this area. With this book by David Hughes, Zimbabwean studies now has a …
'Progress' in Zimbabwe?: The Past and Present of a Concept and a Country
1. Progress, power, and violent accumulation in Zimbabwe 2. ZANU PF politics under Zimbabwe's 'Power-Sharing' Government 3. Narratives of progress: Zimbabwean historiography and the end of history 4. Civil society and state-centred struggles 5. Anti-developmental patrimonialism in Zimbabwe 6. Foreign investment, black economic empowerment and militarised patronage politics in Zimbabwe 7. Teachers' and bank workers' responses to Zimbabwe's crisis:…
The 2013 Elections in Zimbabwe: The End of an Era
The July 31st 2013 Elections in Zimbabwe ushered in a renewed period of political \ndomination by ZANU(PF) and its President, Robert Mugabe. This election followed five years \nof a SADC- facilitated Global Political Agreement (GPA), which was put into place after a \ncontested presidential run-off election in June 2008. The recent elections, which once again \nestablished ZANU(PF)’s mastery over the country’s political domain, were passed as fre…
Zimbabwean Politics in the Post-2013 Election Period
The 2013 elections in Zimbabwe confirmed the grip of Mugabe and ZANU-PF on Zimbabwean politics. The electoral outcome was the result of a combination of factors that included not only the long-term legacy of ZANU-PF's coercive politics, constructed through a radical nationalist discourse, but also the changes in the social structure of the country as a result of the reconfiguration of Zimbabwe's political economy since the late 1990s. In the afte…
Terence Ranger's Return to the University of Zimbabwe in the Late 1990s
I first met Terry at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London in 1979, when he presented his paper on Mugabe and the revival of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU).1 I had
Zimbabwe Institute of Development Studies (Zids): The Early Context of Sam Moyo's Intellectual Development
One of the key sites of Sam Moyo's early intellectual development was the Zimbabwe Institute of Development Studies (ZIDS). Established by the newly independent Zimbabwean government in the early 1980s to provide an alternative intellectual space for considering socialist policy alternatives, the Institute was subject both to the opportunities and to challenges of state politics. In his work at ZIDS, Sam drew on a long history of radical politica…
Muchaparara Musemwa, Water History and Politics in Zimbabwe: Bulawayo's Struggles with the Environment 1894-2008
African studies and sociopolitical issues (23 works) · Political science (22 works) · Sociology (16 works) · Law (14 works) · Politics (13 works) · Political economy (12 works) · African history and culture studies (11 works) · Law (11 works) · History (10 works) · Geography (8 works)