Performing Power in Zimbabwe: Politics, Law, and the Courts since 2000

ISBN-13: 9781009011792 / Angielski / Miękka / 2023 / 265 str.

Susanne Verheul

Opis

Building on socio-legal studies, anthropology, and performance studies, this book challenges depictions of law as a facade for political repression by examining political trials in Zimbabwe after 2000, looking beyond the repression/resistance binary as a way of understanding governments' and citizens' uses of law.

Recenzje

'A fascinating and vividly painted picture of the way in which power gets enacted in Zimbabwe's courtrooms and a must-read for socio-legal scholars and Africanists alike. Verheul manages to combine disciplinary perspectives and rich case material to dig deep into how power gets constituted and is performed. Highly recommended!' Barbara Oomen, Utrecht University

Spis treści

Introduction: Law, state authority and the courts, 1. History, authority and the law in Zimbabwe, 1950–2002; 2. 'Rebels' and 'good boys': examining the working conditions in Zimbabwe's attorney general's office after 2000; 3. 'Zimbabweans are foolishly litigious': debating citizenship when engaging with a politicised legal system; 4. 'What is abnormal is normal': performative politics on the stages of arrest and detention; 5. Material and sensory courtrooms: observing the 'decline of professionalism' in Harare's magistrates'' courts; 6. The trials of the 'traitor in Harare's magistrates' courts under the unity government; 7. History, consciousness and citizenship in Matabeleland: the impact of the MLF case; 8. Historical narrative and political strategy in Bulawayo's magistrates' courts: the case of Owen Maseko; Conclusion: 'Government is a legal fiction' – performing law, the state, citizenship and politics.