Transitional justice processes are now considered to be crucial steps in facilitating the move from conflict or repression to a secure democratic future. This book contributes to a deeper understanding of transitional justice by examining the complexities of transition in postcolonial societies. It focuses particularly on Zimbabwe but draws on relevant comparative material from other postcolonial polities. Examples include but are not limited to African countries such as South Africa, Rwanda and Mozambique. European societies such as Northern Ireland, as well as other nations such as Guatemala, are also considered. While amplifying the breadth of the subject of transitional justice, the book addresses the claim that transitional justice mechanisms in postcolonial countries are necessary if the rule of law and the credibility of the country’s legal institutions are to be restored. Drawing on postcolonial legal theory, and especially on analyses of the relationship between international law and imperialism, the book challenges the assumption that a domestic rule of law ‘deficit’ may be remedied with recourse to international law. Taking up the paradigmatic perception that international law is neutral and has fixed rules, it demonstrates how complex issues which arise during postcolonial transitions require a more critical adoption of transitional justice mechanisms.

Zimbabwe's Transition to Democracy in the post-independence era has been a very difficult one. To date, there have been a number of sustained efforts by various local, regional and international actors to move Zimbabwe towards democracy as well as attempts to find a lasting solution to the political and economic crises that seriously affected the country's progress from the late 1990s. However, these attempts have been less successful mainly because Zimbabwe has complex political and economic problems, with interlocking national, regional and international political and economic dimensions rooted in both historical and contemporary factors and developments. To understand the complexities of the challenges to Zimbabwe's transition to democracy as well as prospects for political change and democracy in the country, Zimbabwe in Transition critically examines both the historical and contemporary dynamics shaping political and economic developments in the country, taking into account voices from a broad spectrum of Zimbabwean society, including civil society, faith-based communities, the diaspora, women, community leaders, the media, youth, and regional actors such as SADC and the AU. Book jacket.

Three leading Africa scholars investigate the social forces driving the democratic transformation of postcolonial states across southern Africa. Extensive research and interviews with civil society organizers in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, Namibia, and Swaziland inform this analysis of the challenges faced by non-governmental organizations in relating both to the attendant inequality of globalization and to grassroots struggles for social justice. Peter Dwyer is a tutor in economics at Ruskin College in Oxford. Leo Zeilig Lecturer at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London.

In Civil Society Narratives of Violence and Shaping the Transitional Justice Agenda in Zimbabwe, Chenai G. Matshaka shows the shaping of the transitional justice agenda in Zimbabwe from a civil society perspective. Based on the understanding that transitional justice approaches are seen through the lenses by which the violence and conflict is understood, Matshaka explores the complexities that arise when particular narratives of violence dominate the agenda. This book contributes to a discussion on how narratives intervene in the trajectory of a transitional justice process of a society in ways that may be beneficial or detrimental to breaking cycles of injustice and domination.

This edited volume examines the role of local civil society in shaping understandings and processes of transitional justice in Africa – a nursery of transitional justice ideas for well over two decades. It brings together practitioners and scholars with intimate knowledge of these processes to evaluate the agendas and strategies of local civil society, and offers an opportunity to reflect on ‘lessons learnt’ along the way. The contributors focus on the evolution and effectiveness of transitional justice interventions, providing a glimpse into the motivations and inner workings of major civil society actors. The book presents an African perspective on transitional justice through a compilation of country-specific and thematic analyses of agenda setting and lobbying efforts. It offers insights into state–civil society relations on the continent, which shape these agendas. The chapters present case studies from Southern, Central, East, West and North Africa, and a range of moments and types of transition. In addition to historical perspective, the chapters provide fresh and up-to- date analyses of ongoing transitional justice efforts that are key to defining the future of how the field is understood globally, in theory and in practice Endorsements: "This great volume of written work – Advocating Transitional Justice in Africa: The Role of Civil Society – does what virtually no other labor of the intellect has done heretofore. Authored by movement activists and thinkers in the fields of human rights and transitional justice, the volume wrestles with the complex place and roles of transitional justice in the project of societal reconstruction in Africa. ... This volume will serve as a timely and thought-provoking guide for activists, thinkers, and policy makers – as well as students of transitional justice – interested in the tension between the universal and the particular in the arduous struggle for liberation. Often, civil society actors in Africa have been accused of consuming the ideas of others, but not producing enough, if any, of their own. This volume makes clear the spuriousness of this claim and firmly plants an African flag in the field of ideas." Makau Mutua

Zimbabwe occupies a special place in African politics and international relations, and has been the subject of intense debates over the years. At independence in 1980, the country was better endowed than most in Africa, and seemed poised for economic development and political pluralism. The population was relatively well educated, the industrial and agricultural bases were strong, and levels of infrastructure were impressive. However, in less than two decades, Zimbabwe was mired in a deep political and economic crisis. Towards the end of its third decade of independence, the economy had collapsed and the country had been transformed into a repressive state. How can we make sense of this decline? How can we explain the 'lost decade' that followed? Can the explanation be reduced to the authoritarian leadership of Robert Mugabe and role of ZANU-PF? Or was something defective about in the institutions through which the state has exercised its authority? Or was it the result of imperialism, the West and sanctions? Zimbabwe's Lost Decade draws on Lloyd Sachikonye's analyses of political developments over the past 25 years. It offers a critique of leadership, systems of governance, and economic strategies, and argues for democratic values and practices, and more broad-based participation in the development process.

Originally published: Sunnyside, Auckland Park, South Africa: Jacana Media, 2011.

This book examines the triumphs and tribulations of the Zimbabwean national project, providing a radical and critical analysis of the fossilisation of Zimbabwean nationalism against the wider context of African nationalism in general. The book departs radically from the common 'praise-texts' in seriously engaging with the darker aspects of nationalism, including its failure to create the nation-as-people, and to install democracy and a culture of human rights. The author examines how the various people inhabiting the lands between the Limpopo and Zambezi Rivers entered history and how violence became a central aspect of the national project of organising Zimbabweans into a collectivity in pursuit of a political end.

This volume presents the research analysis of a range of scholars and experts on post conflict peacebuilding and international law from a variety of perspectives and missions. The selected essays show that peacebuilding, like the concept of peacekeeping, is not specifically provided for in the UN Charter. They also demonstrate that the record of peacebuilding, like that of peacekeeping, is varied and while both concepts are intrinsically linked, neither lends itself to precise definition. The essays consider the historical approaches to peacebuilding such as the role played by the UN in the Congo in the early 1960s and the work of the United States and its allies in rebuilding Germany and Japan in the aftermath of World War II. Finally, essays consider the major challenge for contemporary peacebuilding operations to make international administrations accountable and to ensure the involvement of the international community in helping rebuild communities and prevent the resurgence of violence.

The book investigates the use of bottom-up, community based healing and peacebuilding approaches, focusing on their strengths and suggesting how they can be enhanced. The main contribution of the book is an ethnographic investigation of how post-conflict communities in parts of Southern Africa use their local resources to forge a future after mass violence. The way in which Namibia’s Herero and Zimbabwe’s Ndebele dealt with their respective genocides is a major contribution of the book. The focus of the book is on two Southern African countries that never experienced institutionalized transitional justice as dispensed in post-apartheid South Africa via the famed Truth and Reconciliation Commission. We answer the question: how have communities healed and reconciled after the end of protracted violence and gross human rights abuses in Zimbabwe and Namibia? We depart from statetist, top-down, one-size fits all approaches to transitional justice and investigate bottom-up approaches.