Recently, the ‘Friends of Zimbabwe’ group of western donors met in London, together with representatives of all of Zimbabwe’s main political parties. The ‘Friends’ group – formerly known as the ‘Fishmongers’ after an expensive restaurant in Harare – is a

Read the rest of Making friends in London: is a new rapprochement on Zimbabwe occurring? – By Ian Scoones »

The International Crisis Group issued on 6 May a very helpful report entitled Zimbabwe: Elections Scenarios. Prepared by Piers Pigou, the ICG’s Southern Africa projects director and his team, this report should be required reading for those outside of Zimbabwe

Read the rest of Zimbabwe Elections Scenarios: New ICG Report Cuts Through the Political Posturing »

    On March 16th, Zimbabweans voted on a new Constitution in a national referendum. The voting was largely peaceful, and the turnout higher than expected, with over 3 million people voting. With all major parties supporting it, the result was

Read the rest of Zimbabwe has a new Constitution, but disputes over the land provisions continue — by Ian Scoones »

This past weekend’s referendum in Zimbabwe marks an important transition away from the 2009 Government of National Unity (GNU) formed in the aftermath of the violent 2008 elections.  The low-key referendum, where nearly 3 million people voted “Yes” for the

Read the rest of Zimbabwe: The end of power sharing, the return of brute power – By Timothy Scarnecchia »

Since independence in 1980, there appears to have been an ingrained political psyche peculiar to Zimbabwe’s Matebeleland region, where the political landscape has been painted in ethnic colours.  Historians say today’s tribal politics date back to the 1960s and 70s when nationalists

Read the rest of Ethnic politics on the Zimbabwean campaign trail: do voters really care? – By Marko Phiri »

A new paper in the Journal of Agrarian Change by the team that wrote the Zimbabwe’s Land Reform book examines the processes of rural differentiation that have occurred following land reform in 2000, and their political and economic consequences. The

Read the rest of Class and rural differentiation after land reform in Zimbabwe and Two New Land Reform books– by Ian Scoones »

In Zimbabwe, serious questions are being asked as to whether President Robert Mugabe is bent on stirring the country back to the political chaos of 2008 as his party Zanu PF stalls the constitution making process prior to elections Without

Read the rest of Mugabe Pushing Zimbabweans to the Brink? – By Marko Phiri »

On the surface of it, it would appear that the political dispute over the Save Valley Conservancy in South Eastern Zimbabwe is yet another story of ‘illegal land-grabs’. It must however be said at the onset that this is an

Read the rest of Zimbabwe’s Save Valley Conservancy, Indigenisation and ‘The Lie of the Land’ — by Takura Zhangazha »

The tragic and fatal shooting of 34 mineworkers in South Africa has sadly brought back memories of the violence of the apartheid years. And because memories of apartheid are not only limited to South Africa, the killing fields of Marikana

Read the rest of Southern African Implications of The Marikana Lonmin Mineworkers Shooting Tragedy — by Takura Zhangazha »

The international media has had an appalling record of balanced reporting on Zimbabwe over the last 12 years. A single narrative, repeating the myths we attempted to demolish in our book is endlessly repeated. All is disaster, the land reform

Read the rest of A media glasnost for Zimbabwe coverage? — by Ian Scoones »