This paper analyses faculty experiences tackling global knowledge asymmetries by examining the de... more This paper analyses faculty experiences tackling global knowledge asymmetries by examining the decolonisation of higher education in Africa in the aftermath of the 2015 ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ student uprising. An overview of the literature reveals a rich debate on defining ‘decolonisation’, starting from a critique of Eurocentrism to propositions of alternate epistemologies. These debates are dominated by the Global North and South Africa and their experiences of curriculum reform. Our focus is on the experiences of political scientists in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. These countries share the same Anglophone political science traditions but represent different political trajectories that constitute a significant condition for the discipline. The 26 political scientists we interviewed acted toward increasing local content and perspectives in their teaching, as promoted in the official strategies of the universities. They noted that what was happening in lecture halls was most i...
Research in Zimbabwe: From Analysis to Practice L.Laakso Indigenization, the State Bourgeoisie an... more Research in Zimbabwe: From Analysis to Practice L.Laakso Indigenization, the State Bourgeoisie and Neo-authoritarian Politics B.Raftopoulos & D.Compagnon The Performance of the Zimbabwean Economy, 1980-2000 G.Kanyenze Natural Resource Management in the Communal Areas: From Centralization to Decentralization and Back Again M.Spierenburg Zimbabwe's War Veterans and the Ruling Party: Continuities in Political Dynamics N.Kriger Regional Voting and Cabinet Formation L.Laakso Education in Zimbabwe: A Matter of Success? A.Narman Vacillations Around Women: The Overlapping Meanings of 'Women' in the Zimbabwean Context C.Sylvester Foreign and Security Policy of Zimbabwe: From Independence to the DRC D.Chimanikire The Media in Zimbabwe: The Struggle Between State and Civil Society H.Ronning
Taking a critical stance toward the literature on democratisation in Africa, this qualitative ana... more Taking a critical stance toward the literature on democratisation in Africa, this qualitative analysis utilises empirical data on four general elections in Zimbabwe. Elections are approached by looking at their meaning for nation-building and state-building. The 1980 elections in Zimbabwe ...
For the new government of Zimbabwe independence meant enormous expectations concerning social and... more For the new government of Zimbabwe independence meant enormous expectations concerning social and economic equality, which in the increasingly harsh international economic environment were anything but easy to achieve. While the government wanted to adjust to the capitalist world economy, build on the state it inherited from the minority rule and reconcile itself with the white minority, it also called for a radical socialist and racial transformation. It is not surprising that high expectations and the opposing challenges of the new situation have also characterized the research on Zimbabwe’s performance.
Abstract: Zimbabwe has implemented a multi-party system on a universal franchise for more than tw... more Abstract: Zimbabwe has implemented a multi-party system on a universal franchise for more than two decades. This era has witnessed consolidation of power into the hands of the ruling ZANU party and its leader Robert Mugabe, and a gradual evolution of political crises. All ...
... According to a manual on the code of conduct, monitors were required to pledge strict imparti... more ... According to a manual on the code of conduct, monitors were required to pledge strict impartiality and neutrality ... the sense that the sum of the votes of the losing candidate(s) was more than half of the number of votes scored by the winning candidate.42 ZANU(Ndonga) was able ...
SINCE I990, more than 30 sub-Saharan states have introduced multi-party electoral systems to choo... more SINCE I990, more than 30 sub-Saharan states have introduced multi-party electoral systems to choose their national governments. This development, normally understood as part of the post-cold war 'wave of democratisation',' has led many to think that there is something ...
Abstract: The last two years have seen intensifying political violence in Zimbabwe. Could Zimbabw... more Abstract: The last two years have seen intensifying political violence in Zimbabwe. Could Zimbabwe slide further into political and economic turmoil? Or are there sufficient checks and balances in the social system to halt decline? The paper argues that the failed economic ...
The example of Zimbabwe in shows that in a context of violent election campaigning, the role... more The example of Zimbabwe in shows that in a context of violent election campaigning, the role of international election observation is an ambiguous one. Unlike earlier elections organised by the Zimbabwean government, in-ternational donors wanted to observe its ...
This paper analyses faculty experiences tackling global knowledge asymmetries by examining the de... more This paper analyses faculty experiences tackling global knowledge asymmetries by examining the decolonisation of higher education in Africa in the aftermath of the 2015 ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ student uprising. An overview of the literature reveals a rich debate on defining ‘decolonisation’, starting from a critique of Eurocentrism to propositions of alternate epistemologies. These debates are dominated by the Global North and South Africa and their experiences of curriculum reform. Our focus is on the experiences of political scientists in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. These countries share the same Anglophone political science traditions but represent different political trajectories that constitute a significant condition for the discipline. The 26 political scientists we interviewed acted toward increasing local content and perspectives in their teaching, as promoted in the official strategies of the universities. They noted that what was happening in lecture halls was most i...
Research in Zimbabwe: From Analysis to Practice L.Laakso Indigenization, the State Bourgeoisie an... more Research in Zimbabwe: From Analysis to Practice L.Laakso Indigenization, the State Bourgeoisie and Neo-authoritarian Politics B.Raftopoulos & D.Compagnon The Performance of the Zimbabwean Economy, 1980-2000 G.Kanyenze Natural Resource Management in the Communal Areas: From Centralization to Decentralization and Back Again M.Spierenburg Zimbabwe's War Veterans and the Ruling Party: Continuities in Political Dynamics N.Kriger Regional Voting and Cabinet Formation L.Laakso Education in Zimbabwe: A Matter of Success? A.Narman Vacillations Around Women: The Overlapping Meanings of 'Women' in the Zimbabwean Context C.Sylvester Foreign and Security Policy of Zimbabwe: From Independence to the DRC D.Chimanikire The Media in Zimbabwe: The Struggle Between State and Civil Society H.Ronning
Taking a critical stance toward the literature on democratisation in Africa, this qualitative ana... more Taking a critical stance toward the literature on democratisation in Africa, this qualitative analysis utilises empirical data on four general elections in Zimbabwe. Elections are approached by looking at their meaning for nation-building and state-building. The 1980 elections in Zimbabwe ...
For the new government of Zimbabwe independence meant enormous expectations concerning social and... more For the new government of Zimbabwe independence meant enormous expectations concerning social and economic equality, which in the increasingly harsh international economic environment were anything but easy to achieve. While the government wanted to adjust to the capitalist world economy, build on the state it inherited from the minority rule and reconcile itself with the white minority, it also called for a radical socialist and racial transformation. It is not surprising that high expectations and the opposing challenges of the new situation have also characterized the research on Zimbabwe’s performance.
Abstract: Zimbabwe has implemented a multi-party system on a universal franchise for more than tw... more Abstract: Zimbabwe has implemented a multi-party system on a universal franchise for more than two decades. This era has witnessed consolidation of power into the hands of the ruling ZANU party and its leader Robert Mugabe, and a gradual evolution of political crises. All ...
... According to a manual on the code of conduct, monitors were required to pledge strict imparti... more ... According to a manual on the code of conduct, monitors were required to pledge strict impartiality and neutrality ... the sense that the sum of the votes of the losing candidate(s) was more than half of the number of votes scored by the winning candidate.42 ZANU(Ndonga) was able ...
SINCE I990, more than 30 sub-Saharan states have introduced multi-party electoral systems to choo... more SINCE I990, more than 30 sub-Saharan states have introduced multi-party electoral systems to choose their national governments. This development, normally understood as part of the post-cold war 'wave of democratisation',' has led many to think that there is something ...
Abstract: The last two years have seen intensifying political violence in Zimbabwe. Could Zimbabw... more Abstract: The last two years have seen intensifying political violence in Zimbabwe. Could Zimbabwe slide further into political and economic turmoil? Or are there sufficient checks and balances in the social system to halt decline? The paper argues that the failed economic ...
The example of Zimbabwe in shows that in a context of violent election campaigning, the role... more The example of Zimbabwe in shows that in a context of violent election campaigning, the role of international election observation is an ambiguous one. Unlike earlier elections organised by the Zimbabwean government, in-ternational donors wanted to observe its ...
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