1st Edition
Religion-Regime Relations in Zimbabwe Co-operation and Resistance
This book explores religion-regime relations in contemporary Zimbabwe to identify patterns of co-operation and resistance across diverse religious institutions.
Using co-operation and resistance as an analytical framework, the book shows how different religious organisations have interacted with Emmerson Mnangagwa’s "Second Republic", following Robert Mugabe’s departure from the political scene. In particular, through case studies on the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference and Pentecostals, African Traditional Religions, Islam, and others, the book explores how different religious institutions have responded to Mnangagwa’s new regime. Chapters highlight the complexities characterising the religion-regime interface, showing how the same religious organisation might co-operate and resist at the same time. Furthermore, the book compares how religious institutions co-operated or resisted Mugabe’s earlier regime to identify patterns of continuity and change. Overall, the book highlights the challenges of deploying simplistic frames in efforts to understand the interface between politics and religion.
A significant contribution to global scholarship on religion-regime interfaces, this book will appeal to academics and students in the field of Religious Studies, Political Science, History and African Studies
Introduction: Religion-Regime Relations in Zimbabwe: Co-operation and Resistance
Ezra Chitando, Lovemore Togarasei and Joram Tarusarira
Chapter One: "The March is Not Ended!" ZCBC’s Pastoral Letter, God and the Crises of Politics in Zimbabwe
Masiiwa Ragies Gunda
Chapter Two: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe (ELCZ) and the Politics of Zimbabwe: Silence and Critical Solidarity
Herbert Moyo
Chapter Three: Depoliticising the Pastoral Role of the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe in the Second Republic
Martin Mujinga
Chapter Four: ‘Prisoners of Hope?’ Pentecostalism, Politics and the Quest for a New Dispensation in Zimbabwe
Kudzai Biri
Chapter Five: Who is Doomed, Prophets or Politicians? Religion and Politics in Zimbabwe’s New Dispensation
Mediel Hove, Chido Mercillina Muswerakuenda and Washington Mazorodze
Chapter Six: A Change for No Change: The Ambivalence of Religion in the Second Republic in Zimbabwe
Bekhitemba Dube
Chapter Seven: Religion and Politics in Zimbabwe’s Second Republic in Zimbabwe:
Goodwill Partners?
Tenson Muyambo
Chapter Eight: Islam and Politics in Zimbabwe’s Second Republic
Silindiwe Zvingowanisei
Chapter Nine: The Appropriation of the Bible in the Zimbabwean Narrative by the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference: Lessons for the Second Republic
Ishanesu Sextus Gusha
Chapter Ten: Interrogating Responses to the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations’ Call for a National Political Sabbath for Trust Building and Confidence Building
Noah Pashapa
Chapter Eleven: Religion, Politics and Veteran Masculinities in Post-Mugabe Zimbabwe
Obert Bernard Mlambo
Chapter Twelve: The Role of Theology in Contemporary Zimbabwe: Insights From the Rise of the Monarchy in the Hebrew Bible
Xolani Maseko
Chapter Thirteen: Contested Interpretations: The Case of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora in the United Kingdom Responding to the New Dispensation
Nomatter Sande
Biography
Ezra Chitando is a Professor of History and Phenomenology of Religion at the University of Zimbabwe. His recent co-edited publications include "African Perspectives on Religion and Climate Change" (Routledge 2022) and "Religion and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Southern Africa" (Routledge 2022).
Lovemore Togarasei is a Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy at the Zimbabwe Open University.
Joram Tarusarira is Assistant Professor of Religion, Conflict and Peacebuilding at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
