Inventing the New Dispensation in Zimbabwe

The Religious Dimension

Joram Tarusarira editor Ezra Chitando editor Lovemore Togarasei editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Publishing:14th Nov '24

£85.00

This title is due to be published on 14th November, and will be despatched as soon as possible.

Inventing the New Dispensation in Zimbabwe cover

An analysis of how Zimbabwe’s new political administration deploys religious ideologies in its quest for legitimacy.

How does a regime, whose members have been actively involved in the previous one, appropriate and deploy religious ideas and rhetoric to cast itself as ‘born-again’ and attractive? Exploring intersections between politics, religion and economics, this book examines invention of Zimbabwe’s ‘New Dispensation,’ the regime of Emmerson D. Mnangagwa, and how it has aimed to separate itself from the previous regime of Robert G. Mugabe. Utilizing the concept of ‘invention’, contributors reflect on how Mnangagwa and his publicists deploy religious ideas, concepts and rhetoric in the quest for legitimacy in a heavily contested political field. The book also reflects on the ways opposing political actors have utilized the same template in their quests to secure power. The contributors interrogate the use of time, theological ideas and religious practices to separate Mnangagwa’s regime from Mugabe’s. This book provides insight into how religious rhetoric is used not only to gain, but also to contest legitimacy in Zimbabwe’s political sphere.

ISBN: 9781350363892

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

248 pages