Skip to content Skip to navigation
University of Warwick
  • Study
  • |
  • Research
  • |
  • Business
  • |
  • Alumni
  • |
  • News
  • |
  • About

University of Warwick
Publications service & WRAP

Highlight your research

  • WRAP
    • Home
    • Search WRAP
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse WRAP by Year
    • Browse WRAP by Subject
    • Browse WRAP by Department
    • Browse WRAP by Funder
    • Browse Theses by Department
  • Publications Service
    • Home
    • Search Publications Service
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse Publications service by Year
    • Browse Publications service by Subject
    • Browse Publications service by Department
    • Browse Publications service by Funder
  • Help & Advice
University of Warwick

The Library

  • Login
  • Admin

Law, state and the agrarian question in Zimbabwe

Tools
- Tools
+ Tools

Tshuma, Lawrence (1995) Law, state and the agrarian question in Zimbabwe. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

[img]
Preview
PDF
WRAP_THESIS_Tshuma_1995.pdf - Submitted Version - Requires a PDF viewer.

Download (21Mb) | Preview
Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b1403929~S1

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

The agrarian question is one of Zimbabwe's enduring colonial legacies. At independence the ensemble if issues comprising the agrarian question included an inequitable racial distribution of land, different tenure systems for blacks and white settlers, a discriminatory provision of agricultural support services, and repressive relations between the state and the peasantry. Peasant grievances over the agrarian question mobilised their support for the liberation struggle which culminated in independence in 1980. Contrary to the expectations of the majority of Zimbabweans, agrarian reforms introduced since independence have not transformed the colonial agrarian structure.

The thesis investigates factors which account for the nature of agrarian reforms. Using a socio-historical analysis, it examines changes and continuities in agrarian policies and laws. In the main, the thesis argues that reform has been shaped by changes in power relations in society which are reflected in the exercise of state power. It shows that the manner in which independence was achieved and the character and ideologies of the social forces that inherited state power account for the changes and continuities in policies and laws. The thesis demonstrates that land reform was initially constrained by the constitutional provision which protected private property from compulsory acquisition. More important, it argues that reform has been determined by the failure to transform the inherited accumulation strategy, of which capitalist agriculture is an integral element. In addition, it demonstrates that the manner in which land has been redistributed reflects the continuation of colonial ideologies of modernisation. Furthermore, the thesis shows that communal tenure as constructed by the colonial state has been retained partly because of the ideology of nee-traditionalism and partly because it allows the state to intervene in peasant land use and production processes' as part of the process of modernisation. It also shows that the modernisation of peasant agriculture has been attempted through the extension of input, credit, price and marketing packages.

Consequently, the thesis shows that the agrarian question is as relevant today as it was at independence, and that the limited and contradictory nature of the agrarian reforms reflects the limitations and contradictions inherent in the post-colonial democratisation process. Hence agrarian reform can only be adequately addressed as part of a comprehensive transformation of the accumulation process and societal democratisation.

Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
K Law [LC] > KN Asia and Eurasia, Africa, Pacific Area, and Antarctica
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Land reform -- Zimbabwe -- History, Agriculture and the state -- Zimbabwe
Official Date: 1995
Dates:
DateEvent
1995Submitted
Institution: University of Warwick
Theses Department: School of Law
Thesis Type: PhD
Publication Status: Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: Faundez, Julio
Extent: xii, 236 leaves
Language: eng

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics

twitter

Email us: wrap@warwick.ac.uk
Contact Details
About Us