[Marxism] Zimbabwe

[Steffie Brooks]

Agreed. In this period we win people at least in the imperialist
countries to anti-imperialism largely as an expression of radical
democracy rather than an expression of class politics, the right to
self-determination being a democratic right. So there is no point in
ignoring anti-democratic practices of regimes in Zimbabwe or elsewhere
in making the argument for democracy.

I highly recommend Horace Campbell's 2003 book, "Reclaiming Zimbabwe:
The Exhaustion of the Patriarchal Model of Liberation," which looks at
Zimbabwe through a gendered lens. The binary of
imperialism/anti-imperialism DOES provide a guide for those of us in
the imperialist centers -- to oppose our own state. But it doesn't
provide any answers to women in Zimbabwe, unless they are to forever
put off their own rights and very survival. Campbell also takes up the
troubling record of Zimbabwe's intervention in the civil war in Congo
(DRC) and the looting by Zimbabwean capitalists and militarists of
that nation (pp. 244-255)

But I'm mostly posting to alert folks to a fascinating bulletin board
discussion of Zimbabwe that I tripped across the other day: The thread
below dates to shortly after the Zimbabwean elections of 2005:

http://www.rastafarispeaks.com/cgi-bin/forum/archive1/config.pl?noframes;read=54528#

It is a Rastafarian bb whose members come from the African continent
as well as the Caribbean, the U.S., and Britain. How they wrestle with
Mugabe's record is fascinating and instructive.

But there are also fascinating threads on male supremacy, music,
Rastafarianism, and the African diaspora. Archives for 2001 through
2006 are here: http://www.rastafarispeaks.com/Rasta/

Enjoy.

Steffie Brooks

On 11/22/07, John <johnedmundson at paradise.net.nz> wrote:
> Actually I
> would rather be arguing for their defence from a sane position where I
> know what the leader/government is really like rather than from a
> misguided position based on hagiography or denial. In fact, if I have a
> realistic understanding put forward in an intelligent, coherent and
> persuasive manner, I'm more likely to "win" people to anti-imperialism
> and maybe socialism and the people I convince are more likely to become
> long term activists if they were treated as sufficiently intelligent to
> understand a more nuanced argument.
_