Blessing-Miles Tendi
Biographic Data
| ID | 1034056 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Blessing-Miles Tendi |
| GIVEN NAMES | Blessing-Miles |
| FAMILY NAME | Tendi |
| SIGNATURE | TENDI B |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Oxford |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 155 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Transnational Histories of Southern Africa’s Liberation Movements
Transnational Histories of Southern Africa's Liberation Movements
Transnationalism, Contingency and Loyalty in African Liberation Armies: The Case of Zanu’s 1974–1975 Nhari Mutiny
This article revisits the history of the 1974-75 mutiny in the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA).The mutiny was primarily led by field commanders Thomas Nhari, Dakarai Badza and Caesar Molife.Dominant accounts on the mutiny maintain that the colonial Rhodesian Security Forces (RSF) influenced Nhari and Badza to stage the revolt.The article traces part of the life history of Rex Nhongo/Solomon Mujuru (a ZANLA commander who interact…
The Transnational Histories of Southern African Liberation Movements: An Introduction
Conference on Southern Africa Beyond the West
The Oxford Handbook of Zimbabwean Politics
This handbook is currently in development, with individual articles publishing online in advance of print publication. At this time, we cannot add information about unpublished articles in this handbook, however the table of contents will continue to grow as additional articles pass through the review process and are added to the site. Please note that the online publication date for this handbook is the date that the first article in the title w…
The Army and Politics in Zimbabwe: Mujuru, the Liberation Fighter and Kingmaker
An illustrious African liberation fighter in the 1970s and, until his suspicious death in 2011, an important figure in Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU PF party in Zimbabwe, this first full-length biography of General Solomon Mujuru or Rex Nhongo throws much needed light onto the opaque elite politics of the 1970s liberation struggle, post-independence army and ZANU PF. Based on the unparalleled primary interviews with informants in the army, intellig…
The motivations and dynamics of Zimbabwe’s 2017 military coup
Robert Mugabe resigned as Zimbabwe’s president in November 2017, following a military action called Operation Restore Legacy. This article examines the motivations and dynamics of Operation Restore Legacy, which it characterizes as a coup by military generals that had significant commonalities with historical coups in Africa. This characterization, which is informed by the accounts of coup participants and a reading of the literature, challenges …
The Transnational Histories of Southern African Liberation Movements: An Introduction
The discussions that took place in that venue were vital to developing the ideas represented here. 2 Writing about liberation movements inevitably involves a forest of acronyms.We consolidate those cited herein in this note to avoid constant disruption of the text.The armed wing of the South African ANC (African National Congress) is uMkhonto weSizwe (MK).Zimbabwe's liberation movements are the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and its armed…
Transnationalism, Contingency and Loyalty in African Liberation Armies: The Case of Zanu's 1974-1975 Nhari Mutiny
This article revisits the history of the 1974–75 mutiny in the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA). The mutiny was primarily led by field commanders Thomas Nhari, Dakarai Badza and Caesar Molife. Dominant accounts on the mutiny maintain that the colonial Rhodesian Security Forces (RSF) influenced Nhari and Badza to stage the revolt. The article traces part of the life history of Rex Nhongo/Solomon Mujuru (a ZANLA commander who inter…
State intelligence and the politics of Zimbabwe's presidential succession
Since the late 1990s Zimbabwean politics has been shaped by the political succession war raging within the ruling ZANU PF party. The internal fight to succeed President Robert Mugabe pitted a faction controlled by retired General Solomon Mujuru, who was fronting his wife Joice Mujuru, against another faction led by Emmerson Mnangagwa, a government minister. The competition between these factions reached a crucial stage in 2014, when Mugabe dismis…
Land and Security in Mugabe's Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is routinely depicted as a country that held considerable potential for socio-economic development following its independence from colonial rule in 1980. Today this promise is all but erod
Power Politics in Zimbabwe by Michael Bratton Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2014. Pp. 281. $68 (hbk)
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Soldiers contra diplomats: Britain's role in the Zimbabwe/Rhodesia ceasefire (1979-1980) reconsidered
This article re-examines part of the literature on Britain’s role in the December 1979 to March 1980 Zimbabwe/Rhodesia ceasefire. The ceasefire ushered in an era of peace after a protracted internal war and it was an integral part of the transition from colonial white minority rule, towards black majority independence. Scholars present Britain’s success in brokering and monitoring the Zimbabwe/Rhodesia ceasefire as the result of its judicious and…
The Origins and Functions of Demonisation Discourses in Britain-Zimbabwe Relations (2000)
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU(PF) government's violent seizure of white-owned commercial farms in 2000 heralded the nadir of diplomatic relations with British Prime Minister Tony Blair's New Labour government. Britain objected to the ZANU(PF) government's human rights violations and state-orchestrated violence, and, through the European Union, subsequently imposed sanctions. This article maintains that, from 2000, mutual demonis…
Ideology, Civilian Authority and the Zimbabwean Military
Since 2002, many scholars and Zimbabwean politicians have argued that Zimbabwe's Joint Operations Command (JOC), which comprises the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) commander and heads of the army, prisons, police, air force and intelligence, increasingly poses a threat to civilian authority. A notorious statement made by the ZDF commander Vitalis Zvinavashe in 2002 is often cited as evidence of the JOC or military elites' partisan support for Pres…
Robert Mugabe's 2013 Presidential Election Campaign
Additional informationNotes on contributorsBlessing-Miles TendiBLESSING-MILES TENDIDepartment of International Development, University of Oxford, 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TB, UK. Email: [email protected]
Robert Mugabe and Toxicity: History and Context Matter
Robert Mugabe is often presented in the international media as the epitome of the popular leader gone awry: the independence struggle hero who seemed initially a progressive egalitarian, but has gradually been corrupted through his attachment to power during a long and increasingly repressive spell in office. This article applies notions of 'toxicity' and 'bad leadership' to Mugabe, in an attempt to locate him within a comparative and historicall…
Power-sharing in comparative perspective: The dynamics of 'unity government' in Kenya and Zimbabwe
This paper draws on the recent experience of Kenya and Zimbabwe to demonstrate how power-sharing has played out in Africa. Although the two cases share some superficial similarities, variation in the strength and disposition of key veto players generated radically different contexts that shaped the feasibility and impact of unity government. Explaining the number and attitude of veto players requires a comparative analysis of the evolution of civ…
Patriotic History and Public Intellectuals Critical of Power
This article focuses on the response of critical Zimbabwean public intellectuals to the ZANU-PF government's uses of Zimbabwe's liberation history in national politics from 2000 to 2004. The ZANU-PF master narrative is referred to as ‘patriotic history’. This article examines the activities of the five most prominent critical public intellectuals in the Zimbabwean public sphere, namely Brian Raftopoulos, Masipula Sithole, John Makumbe, Elphas Muk…
La violence et les urnes: Le Zimbabwe en 2008
Le présent article explore les divers rôles joués par la violence lors des récentes élections présidentielles au Zimbabwe. Le premier tour a été marqué par l'absence relative de violence d'État, alors que le second a connu une violence extrême, orchestrée par le parti au pouvoir. Les comparaisons parfois faites entre le Zimbabwe et le Kenya nous semblent trompeuses: la violence électorale au Zimbabwe n'était pas une violence ethnique et elle ne p…
Power-sharing in comparative perspective: The dynamics of 'unity government' in Kenya and Zimbabwe
This paper draws on the recent experience of Kenya and Zimbabwe to demonstrate how power-sharing has played out in Africa. Although the two cases share some superficial similarities, variation in the strength and disposition of key veto players generated radically different contexts that shaped the feasibility and impact of unity government. Explaining the number and attitude of veto players requires a comparative analysis of the evolution of civ…
Patriotic History and Public Intellectuals Critical of Power
This article focuses on the response of critical Zimbabwean public intellectuals to the ZANU-PF government's uses of Zimbabwe's liberation history in national politics from 2000 to 2004. The ZANU-PF master narrative is referred to as ‘patriotic history’. This article examines the activities of the five most prominent critical public intellectuals in the Zimbabwean public sphere, namely Brian Raftopoulos, Masipula Sithole, John Makumbe, Elphas Muk…
Robert Mugabe's 2013 Presidential Election Campaign
Additional informationNotes on contributorsBlessing-Miles TendiBLESSING-MILES TENDIDepartment of International Development, University of Oxford, 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TB, UK. Email: [email protected]
The motivations and dynamics of Zimbabwe’s 2017 military coup
Robert Mugabe resigned as Zimbabwe’s president in November 2017, following a military action called Operation Restore Legacy. This article examines the motivations and dynamics of Operation Restore Legacy, which it characterizes as a coup by military generals that had significant commonalities with historical coups in Africa. This characterization, which is informed by the accounts of coup participants and a reading of the literature, challenges …
Ideology, Civilian Authority and the Zimbabwean Military
Since 2002, many scholars and Zimbabwean politicians have argued that Zimbabwe's Joint Operations Command (JOC), which comprises the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) commander and heads of the army, prisons, police, air force and intelligence, increasingly poses a threat to civilian authority. A notorious statement made by the ZDF commander Vitalis Zvinavashe in 2002 is often cited as evidence of the JOC or military elites' partisan support for Pres…
The Transnational Histories of Southern African Liberation Movements: An Introduction
The discussions that took place in that venue were vital to developing the ideas represented here. 2 Writing about liberation movements inevitably involves a forest of acronyms.We consolidate those cited herein in this note to avoid constant disruption of the text.The armed wing of the South African ANC (African National Congress) is uMkhonto weSizwe (MK).Zimbabwe's liberation movements are the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and its armed…
State intelligence and the politics of Zimbabwe's presidential succession
Since the late 1990s Zimbabwean politics has been shaped by the political succession war raging within the ruling ZANU PF party. The internal fight to succeed President Robert Mugabe pitted a faction controlled by retired General Solomon Mujuru, who was fronting his wife Joice Mujuru, against another faction led by Emmerson Mnangagwa, a government minister. The competition between these factions reached a crucial stage in 2014, when Mugabe dismis…
The Origins and Functions of Demonisation Discourses in Britain-Zimbabwe Relations (2000)
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU(PF) government's violent seizure of white-owned commercial farms in 2000 heralded the nadir of diplomatic relations with British Prime Minister Tony Blair's New Labour government. Britain objected to the ZANU(PF) government's human rights violations and state-orchestrated violence, and, through the European Union, subsequently imposed sanctions. This article maintains that, from 2000, mutual demonis…
Robert Mugabe and Toxicity: History and Context Matter
Robert Mugabe is often presented in the international media as the epitome of the popular leader gone awry: the independence struggle hero who seemed initially a progressive egalitarian, but has gradually been corrupted through his attachment to power during a long and increasingly repressive spell in office. This article applies notions of 'toxicity' and 'bad leadership' to Mugabe, in an attempt to locate him within a comparative and historicall…
Transnationalism, Contingency and Loyalty in African Liberation Armies: The Case of Zanu's 1974-1975 Nhari Mutiny
This article revisits the history of the 1974–75 mutiny in the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA). The mutiny was primarily led by field commanders Thomas Nhari, Dakarai Badza and Caesar Molife. Dominant accounts on the mutiny maintain that the colonial Rhodesian Security Forces (RSF) influenced Nhari and Badza to stage the revolt. The article traces part of the life history of Rex Nhongo/Solomon Mujuru (a ZANLA commander who inter…
La violence et les urnes: Le Zimbabwe en 2008
Le présent article explore les divers rôles joués par la violence lors des récentes élections présidentielles au Zimbabwe. Le premier tour a été marqué par l'absence relative de violence d'État, alors que le second a connu une violence extrême, orchestrée par le parti au pouvoir. Les comparaisons parfois faites entre le Zimbabwe et le Kenya nous semblent trompeuses: la violence électorale au Zimbabwe n'était pas une violence ethnique et elle ne p…
Soldiers contra diplomats: Britain's role in the Zimbabwe/Rhodesia ceasefire (1979-1980) reconsidered
This article re-examines part of the literature on Britain’s role in the December 1979 to March 1980 Zimbabwe/Rhodesia ceasefire. The ceasefire ushered in an era of peace after a protracted internal war and it was an integral part of the transition from colonial white minority rule, towards black majority independence. Scholars present Britain’s success in brokering and monitoring the Zimbabwe/Rhodesia ceasefire as the result of its judicious and…
Patriotic History and Public Intellectuals Critical of Power
This article focuses on the response of critical Zimbabwean public intellectuals to the ZANU-PF government's uses of Zimbabwe's liberation history in national politics from 2000 to 2004. The ZANU-PF master narrative is referred to as ‘patriotic history’. This article examines the activities of the five most prominent critical public intellectuals in the Zimbabwean public sphere, namely Brian Raftopoulos, Masipula Sithole, John Makumbe, Elphas Muk…
La violence et les urnes: Le Zimbabwe en 2008
Le présent article explore les divers rôles joués par la violence lors des récentes élections présidentielles au Zimbabwe. Le premier tour a été marqué par l'absence relative de violence d'État, alors que le second a connu une violence extrême, orchestrée par le parti au pouvoir. Les comparaisons parfois faites entre le Zimbabwe et le Kenya nous semblent trompeuses: la violence électorale au Zimbabwe n'était pas une violence ethnique et elle ne p…
Power-sharing in comparative perspective: The dynamics of 'unity government' in Kenya and Zimbabwe
This paper draws on the recent experience of Kenya and Zimbabwe to demonstrate how power-sharing has played out in Africa. Although the two cases share some superficial similarities, variation in the strength and disposition of key veto players generated radically different contexts that shaped the feasibility and impact of unity government. Explaining the number and attitude of veto players requires a comparative analysis of the evolution of civ…
Robert Mugabe and Toxicity: History and Context Matter
Robert Mugabe is often presented in the international media as the epitome of the popular leader gone awry: the independence struggle hero who seemed initially a progressive egalitarian, but has gradually been corrupted through his attachment to power during a long and increasingly repressive spell in office. This article applies notions of 'toxicity' and 'bad leadership' to Mugabe, in an attempt to locate him within a comparative and historicall…
Ideology, Civilian Authority and the Zimbabwean Military
Since 2002, many scholars and Zimbabwean politicians have argued that Zimbabwe's Joint Operations Command (JOC), which comprises the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) commander and heads of the army, prisons, police, air force and intelligence, increasingly poses a threat to civilian authority. A notorious statement made by the ZDF commander Vitalis Zvinavashe in 2002 is often cited as evidence of the JOC or military elites' partisan support for Pres…
Robert Mugabe's 2013 Presidential Election Campaign
Additional informationNotes on contributorsBlessing-Miles TendiBLESSING-MILES TENDIDepartment of International Development, University of Oxford, 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TB, UK. Email: [email protected]
The Origins and Functions of Demonisation Discourses in Britain-Zimbabwe Relations (2000)
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU(PF) government's violent seizure of white-owned commercial farms in 2000 heralded the nadir of diplomatic relations with British Prime Minister Tony Blair's New Labour government. Britain objected to the ZANU(PF) government's human rights violations and state-orchestrated violence, and, through the European Union, subsequently imposed sanctions. This article maintains that, from 2000, mutual demonis…
Power Politics in Zimbabwe by Michael Bratton Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2014. Pp. 281. $68 (hbk)
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Soldiers contra diplomats: Britain's role in the Zimbabwe/Rhodesia ceasefire (1979-1980) reconsidered
This article re-examines part of the literature on Britain’s role in the December 1979 to March 1980 Zimbabwe/Rhodesia ceasefire. The ceasefire ushered in an era of peace after a protracted internal war and it was an integral part of the transition from colonial white minority rule, towards black majority independence. Scholars present Britain’s success in brokering and monitoring the Zimbabwe/Rhodesia ceasefire as the result of its judicious and…
State intelligence and the politics of Zimbabwe's presidential succession
Since the late 1990s Zimbabwean politics has been shaped by the political succession war raging within the ruling ZANU PF party. The internal fight to succeed President Robert Mugabe pitted a faction controlled by retired General Solomon Mujuru, who was fronting his wife Joice Mujuru, against another faction led by Emmerson Mnangagwa, a government minister. The competition between these factions reached a crucial stage in 2014, when Mugabe dismis…
Land and Security in Mugabe's Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is routinely depicted as a country that held considerable potential for socio-economic development following its independence from colonial rule in 1980. Today this promise is all but erod
The Transnational Histories of Southern African Liberation Movements: An Introduction
The discussions that took place in that venue were vital to developing the ideas represented here. 2 Writing about liberation movements inevitably involves a forest of acronyms.We consolidate those cited herein in this note to avoid constant disruption of the text.The armed wing of the South African ANC (African National Congress) is uMkhonto weSizwe (MK).Zimbabwe's liberation movements are the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and its armed…
Transnationalism, Contingency and Loyalty in African Liberation Armies: The Case of Zanu's 1974-1975 Nhari Mutiny
This article revisits the history of the 1974–75 mutiny in the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA). The mutiny was primarily led by field commanders Thomas Nhari, Dakarai Badza and Caesar Molife. Dominant accounts on the mutiny maintain that the colonial Rhodesian Security Forces (RSF) influenced Nhari and Badza to stage the revolt. The article traces part of the life history of Rex Nhongo/Solomon Mujuru (a ZANLA commander who inter…
Transnational Histories of Southern Africa’s Liberation Movements
Transnational Histories of Southern Africa's Liberation Movements
Transnationalism, Contingency and Loyalty in African Liberation Armies: The Case of Zanu’s 1974–1975 Nhari Mutiny
This article revisits the history of the 1974-75 mutiny in the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA).The mutiny was primarily led by field commanders Thomas Nhari, Dakarai Badza and Caesar Molife.Dominant accounts on the mutiny maintain that the colonial Rhodesian Security Forces (RSF) influenced Nhari and Badza to stage the revolt.The article traces part of the life history of Rex Nhongo/Solomon Mujuru (a ZANLA commander who interact…
The Transnational Histories of Southern African Liberation Movements: An Introduction
Conference on Southern Africa Beyond the West
The Oxford Handbook of Zimbabwean Politics
This handbook is currently in development, with individual articles publishing online in advance of print publication. At this time, we cannot add information about unpublished articles in this handbook, however the table of contents will continue to grow as additional articles pass through the review process and are added to the site. Please note that the online publication date for this handbook is the date that the first article in the title w…
The Army and Politics in Zimbabwe: Mujuru, the Liberation Fighter and Kingmaker
An illustrious African liberation fighter in the 1970s and, until his suspicious death in 2011, an important figure in Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU PF party in Zimbabwe, this first full-length biography of General Solomon Mujuru or Rex Nhongo throws much needed light onto the opaque elite politics of the 1970s liberation struggle, post-independence army and ZANU PF. Based on the unparalleled primary interviews with informants in the army, intellig…
The motivations and dynamics of Zimbabwe’s 2017 military coup
Robert Mugabe resigned as Zimbabwe’s president in November 2017, following a military action called Operation Restore Legacy. This article examines the motivations and dynamics of Operation Restore Legacy, which it characterizes as a coup by military generals that had significant commonalities with historical coups in Africa. This characterization, which is informed by the accounts of coup participants and a reading of the literature, challenges …
Political science (17 works) · African studies and sociopolitical issues (16 works) · Law (12 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Political economy (9 works) · Politics (9 works) · African history and culture studies (7 works) · History (7 works) · Elite (3 works) · Geography (3 works)