The Historical Dimensions of Democracy and Human Rights in Zimbabwe. Volume 2: Nationalism, Democracy and Human Rights (review)

This book is about the Janus face of nationalism, particularly the dark side of the phenomenon that stresses unity, abhors diversity, and suppresses dissent, but also about the emancipatory potential inherent in its promise. The recent elections serve as a striking background to the materials presented here. All the themes that defined that campaign—the incantation of unity against external agents, the roving youth groups sent to enforce party discipline, the championing of women without giving them power—also appear in the contributions to this volume, albeit several decades earlier. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

The volume consists of eight chapters and an excellent introduction by the editor, Terence Ranger. The chapters cover the emergence of the nationalist movement in Malawi before the end of the Central African Federation, the labor movement in Rhodesia between 1951 and 1975, the role of gender in ZANLA, the impact of the Zimbabwean National Army in Mozambique, the fate of rural institutions in Matebeleland North after independence, the experiences of workers at the Jersey Tea estate, structural adjustment and economic justice, and critiques of the CAMPFIRE program in two districts. With the exception of the chapter on structural adjustment, all contributors rely extensively on interviews to complement their secondary sources.

The dominant theme that emerges from this volume is that, its aspirations notwithstanding, the nationalist movement's practice was more often than not focused on unity rather than democracy and human rights. Given the repressive nature of the Rhodesian state, the maintenance of this unity often superseded notions of participation and open debate. Marginalization of members who did not follow the main line, the use of violence, particularly through the youth league, to intimidate entire populations by punishing so-called sellouts, and the inability to tolerate independent institutions such as churches or labor unions outside the nationalist movement all characterized this period. Once the guerrilla struggle commenced, unity again outweighed all other considerations, including gender equity, and a new pattern of violence was added to the mix.

With the inheritance of the means of violence of the Rhodesian state at independence, this triple legacy of violence continued to subvert the real efforts at welfare socialism between 1980 and 1990. In the campaign against dissidents in Matebeleland and the campaign against Renamo in Mozambique, independent Zimbabwe again invoked unity against notions of democracy and human rights. The declining economic fortunes after 1990 and the decreasing ability of ZANU/PF to improve ordinary people's lives finally made nationalist unity again a club with which to subdue opposition and demands for human rights. The final result was evident in the last election.

Ranger concludes that the "human rights and democratic potentials of Zimbabwean nationalism have not been fully realized" (26) and that it is unclear how the contradictions highlighted by the contributors will work themselves out. I wonder, however, to what extend nationalism of any kind is, in the end, incompatible with human rights and democracy. Human rights are universal claims and nationalism is inevitably particular and exclusive. The contributors to this volume successfully highlight different aspects of this exclusionary process and thus provide a solid historical understanding for the current crisis.