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African Nationalism, Municipal Beer Outlets and Shebeens in Salisbury, Rhodesia, 1960s-1980

Bibliographic Data

ID4905209
AuthorsNathaniel Chimhete (0009-0004-0890-7077, University of Zimbabwe, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume44
Issue5
Pages815-831
Publication date2018-09-03
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Southern African Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0305-7070 • E-ISSN: 1465-3893
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03057070.2018.1500749
OpenAlexW2891939688
LanguageEN
Citations received5

Scholars writing on the alcohol industry in Rhodesia have generally viewed beer drinking in urban areas as a social phenomenon. This has led them to overlook links between beer drinking and politics, yet, in the 1960s and 1970s, politics and beer drinking were intricately linked. This article examines the intersection between nationalism and alcohol drinking in Salisbury, Rhodesia. This approach not only bridges studies on African nationalism and the alcohol industry, but also allows us to examine one aspect of Zimbabwean nationalism that has not yet been examined: shebeens as hubs of African nationalism. More broadly, this approach also allows us to examine the contribution of urban dwellers to the liberation struggle, a subject that has hitherto received little scholarly attention. Using primarily Salisbury Council documents and interviews with contemporaries, the article argues that the 1960s and 1970s municipal beer outlets boycott campaigns not only reduced the profitability of the state-run beer halls, but also spurred the growth of the shebeen industry, as political activists appropriated some shebeens, turning them into political institutions. These shebeens became sites where political activists met not only to drink, but also to evade state surveillance, to disseminate information and to appeal for, and collect, financial and material support that went towards supporting freedom fighters

Appeal · Boycott · Nationalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · African history and culture studies · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Law

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    Zvenyika Eckson Mugari, Chipo Hungwe et al.•The Journal of Peasant Studies•2024

  • Shebeens, alcohol and nation-building in Zimbabwe, 1980–1989

    Nathaniel Chimhete•Canadian Journal of African…•2023

  • Yvonne Vera’s Ode to the Shebeen Queen

    Christine Grogan, Sarah Namulondo•English Studies in Africa•2026

  • Myths of Zimbabwean urban nationalism

    Open Access•Kristina Pikovskaia•Nations and Nationalism•2024

Citations per year1.67
Citation span2023 - 2026 (4)
Highly citedNo

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