Projekt

This project examines the changing relationship between the army generals and foot soldiers and the political leadership of former President Robert Mugabe whose rule ended (after 37 years in power) with military intervention and the related mass street protest by the civilians in Zimbabwe on 21 November 2017. The study focuses on serving senior and junior soldiers in the Zimbabwe National Army to understand why after 37 years of loyalty, the staged military intervention which saw Robert Mugabe resigning from the presidency. Therefore the guiding question for this project is: What factors influenced the nature of the relationship between soldiers and the political leadership in the pre- and post- Robert Mugabe eras? In order to explore this question, the project will employ ethnographic tools: deep observation of and participation with the activities of soldiers, informal conversations, in-depth interviews, and follow-up interviews with serving junior and senior officers in Zimbabwe. The project constitute of: two postgraduate students, a Masters and PhD student whose research will speak to the project. In addition the project will also include a European postdoctoral fellow, two mentors: African based and European mentor. The project will also have a European partner, whose institution, UK will provide basic institutional support on visit by the senior Volkswagen Foundation fellow. As a team in the project, we will have at least two symposiums together, presenting our research findings. This will help to strenthen already existing relationships, and mentorship of young researchers in the project.

• Dr. Stefan Schmid

  Universität Frankfurt am Main
  Zentrum für interdisziplinäre
  Afrikaforschung (ZIAF)
  Campus Westend
  Frankfurt am Main
  

• Dr. Godfrey Maringira

  University of the Western Cape
  Department of Anthropology & Sociology
  Faculty of Arts
  Cape Town
  Südafrika
  

• Soldiers, Sacred Waters, and Landscapes: Zimbabwean Soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo War (1998 2002)

• Soldiers, masculinities and violence: war and politics

• The Military post-Mugabe

• Soldiers and the State in Zimbabwe