Violence, Patronage Politics and Farm Ownership in Zimbabwean Land Reform

Land Distribution and Post-Distribution Realities

Dados Bibliográficos

ID20404243
AutoresKwashirai Zvokuomba (0000-0002-8152-9621, University of Johannesburg Department of Sociology https://dx.doi.org/61799 Johannesburg South Africa), Kezia Batisai (0000-0003-3638-8564, University of Johannesburg Department of Sociology https://dx.doi.org/61799 Johannesburg South Africa)
Ano2023
Volume16
Fascículo2
Páginas197-221
Data de publicação2023-10-05
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAfrica Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0974-4061 • E-ISSN: 0974-4061
EditoraWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1163/09744061-bja10097
OpenAlexW4387405506
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas16

This article explores the “violence–politics of patronage” nexus of land redistribution and ownership after land reform in Zimbabwe. Foregrounding an analysis of the violence on farms, which has been explored by many scholars in other dimensions, the article presents hard evidence of what happened on these farms post the Fast Track Land Reform Programme. Deploying Gramsci’s theory of hegemony, this article interrogates the sociocultural and political linkages of violence, patronage and farm ownership to illuminate the dark realities of land distribution after “ jambanja ” (farm invasions). The violent behaviour around resettled lands is a manifestation of a well-entrenched patronage system in which those whose political views diverge from the “hegemonic power” lose their land through unscrupulous acts. The violence of the jambanja era, initially targeted at white farmers within the context of a “nativist land revolution”, continues to manifest itself in communities, albeit differently. It is, as the French thinker, Jacques Mallet du Pan, said of the French Revolution, “the revolution devouring its own children”

Foregrounding · Geography · Hegemony · Land grabbing · Land reform · Land tenure · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociocultural evolution · Sociology · African history and culture studies · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Land Rights and Reforms · Law