Ian Phimister

Mugabe, Mbeki & the politics of anti-imperialism

There can be little doubt that one of the most significant aspects of the current crisis in Zimbabwe, especially the events of the past two or three years, has been its international character. At the heart of President Robert Mugabes offensive against the array of forces opposed to his rule are repeated attempts to place the Zimbabwe problem at the centre of a larger anti-imperialist and Pan-African position. These tactics have been crucial to the process of legitimising the recent actions of ZANU-PF, in power since independence in 1980. The land question in particular has been located within a discourse of legitimate redress for colonial injustice, language which has resonated on the African continent, and within the Third World more generally. Knowing that his authoritarian rule would be confronted with a widespread national and international critique centred on property rights, human rights and the rule of law, Mugabe and his advisors constructed alternative discourses around the need for renewed liberation struggle solidarity, the continuing effects of African marginalisation attendant on the globalisation process, and the presumptions of liberal imperialism. Behind this rhetorical shield, the ZANU-PF government has effectively suspended the rule of law as it attempts to bludgeon its opponents into silence. In doing so, it has enjoyed the support provided by the so-called ‘quiet diplomacy’ and ‘constructive engagement’ of other Southern and Central African governments.

Narratives of progress : Zimbabwean historiography and the end of history

This brief commentary takes its inspiration from the opening address delivered by John Hoffman, and printed in these pages; that is, progress is usefully understood as a contradictory, contested and ambiguous process. But rather than attempt a comprehensive survey of the past 40 or so years of academic analyses of Zimbabwes pasts, what follows has as its focus the emergence of ‘patriotic history’ and particularly its nationalist antecedents. These are critically examined. Although not concerned with the generality of recent studies that are neither nationalist nor materialist in orientation, this paper sketches in outline the rise, fall and rise of radical accounts. It ends by suggesting how such analyses might be taken forward.

Alluvial gold mining and trade in Nineteenth-Century South Central Africa

For over nine hundred years the African inhabitants of South Central Africa engaged in the production and trading of gold. The attention of archaeologists and historians, however, has focused mainly on gold reef mining. By comparison, alluvial goldwashing has been neglected, although it was practised by Africans both before and after the period during which they exploited gold reef mines. Probably at its greatest volume between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, the gold trade thereafter declined, but the mining and trading of alluvial gold continued to be relatively important in the nineteenth century in what is now north-eastern Rhodesia. Largely a seasonal activity, goldwashing was normally washing was increasingly subject to interference and attempted suppression as settlers sought t o exploit alluvial areas themselves and force Africans into wage labour. This attempted suppression did not always have the intended results but may be seen generally as part of the wider structural underdevelopment of the African peasantry and precolonial industries in Southern Rhodesia.

Foreign Devils, Finance and Informal Empire: Britain and China c. 1900–1912

‘An imperial policy is essentially a commercial policy’ (Charles Addis, 1905) ‘Look at the way we have swindled the Chinese in the case of the Pekin Syndicate and still worse in the case of the Chinese Engineering and Mining Company’ (G.E. Morrison, 1906)

Workers in Wonderland? White Miners and the Northern Rhodesian Copperbelt, 1946–1962

Abstract Described as a paradise for the proletariat, the Northern Rhodesian [Zambian] Copperbelt provided employment for over 7 000 white miners. Emerging from the end of the Second World War with a ‘closed shop’ agreement, the white Northern Rhodesian Mine Workers Union fought a series of battles against the Copperbelts two major mining houses, Anglo American and the Rhodesian Selection Trust. The latter company in particular has been portrayed as having played a leading role in ending the job colour bar. Both at the time and subsequently, big business was praised for its enlightened practice of confronting white racism. Yet the issue as seen from the boardroom was that white miners were paid too much, not that black workers were paid too little. Viewed from this perspective, the economic and political struggles that engulfed the Copperbelt in the 1950s appear rather less straightforward than the simple morality play presented in much of the subjects historiography. Concentrating on the business of copper mining, this article suggests that corporate policies concerning the job colour bar were shaped by the mining industrys changing cost structure and profitability.

Empire, Imperialism and the Partition of Africa

Peter Cain and Tony Hopkins wrote: From the perspective of … [our study of British Imperialism], there is an argument to be made for reducing the attention customarily paid to the partition of Africa because the importance of the continent, as measured by trade and financial flows, did not give it a high ranking among Britain’s international trading partners or even among regions that felt the force of her imperialist ambitions. … However, given that partition … is so firmly entrenched in the literature as the classic case of late nineteenth century imperialism, there are compelling historiographical reasons why we have situated our own interpretation in the context of the existing literature.1 Profoundly dissatisfied with explanations for Africa’s partition which have emphasized variously the significance of strategic concerns; the crucial role played by protonationalism; or the problems besetting Britain as ‘an ageing, defensive power struggling to fend off new challenges to her interests’, Cain and Hopkins instead argued that: the impulses motivating [British] policy can be traced to the metropole, and particularly to the expansion after 1850 of … gentle-manly occupations and values … Indeed Britain’s actions in partitioning Africa followed the contours of this development: the main weight of her interests lay in Egypt and southern Africa, where City and service interests were most prominently represented, and it was there that Britain showed the greatest vigour in promoting her claims.2

The Collapse of Rhodesia. Population Demographics and the Politics of Race

The Collapse of Rhodesia. Population Demographics and the Politics of Race J. Brownell London, I.B. Taurus, 2011 viii + 241 pp., ISBN: 978 1 84885 475 8 (£56.50 hardback) In February 1980, a huge c...