REQUIEM FOR THE #THISFLAG MOVEMENT IN ZIMBABWE

Date

2026-2-2

Author

Tarambwa, Aswad Nyasha

Metadata

Show full item record

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Item Usage Stats

1032
views

0
downloads

Cite This

Zimbabwe has long been plagued by cycles of instability, and conditions have arguably worsened in the post-Mugabe era. This thesis investigates the causes, nature and degree of the instabilities and contradictions in Zimbabwe’s state-building from the perspective of a social movement, seeking to reinvigorate debates on statebuilding. Notably, the literature overlooks the nexus between state-building and social movements in understanding Zimbabwean politics. Hence, framed as a requiem, this thesis reflects on the #ThisFlag movement, which emerged in 2016, as a microcosm that manifests the complexities of state-building in Zimbabwe. The research is qualitative in orientation and grounded in a case study design that uses Marxism as the main theoretical framework. Ultimately, the thesis argues that one can extrapolate from the #ThisFlag movement that Zimbabwe, since the attainment of formal independence, largely remains colonial in the sense of continuities in extractivism, authoritarianism, and elitism, owing to low political willpower. Instead of a transformation or rupture from settler colonialism, these continuities undermine the promises of independence. Therefore, the emergence of the #ThisFlag movement was not a spontaneous event, but mainly a culmination of many decades of a bankrupt state-building project under ZANU-PF playing a game of whack-a-mole. Furthermore, the thesis argues against the pitfalls of relegating the complications of state-building to a straightforward narrative of good versus evil. The role of Western countries’ antagonisms, regional alliances, corrupt opposition, self-serving Non-Governmental Organisations and Civil Society Organisations and greed and inaction among citizens are a threat to state-building in powerful ways that should not be underestimated. Accordingly, the thesis hopes to contribute, however small, to a more nuanced understanding and to constructive dialogue on the intricate nature of the politics of state-building in Zimbabwe and social movement dynamics in so-called failed states, which are seriously understudied.

Subject Keywords

Zimbabwe, state-building, social movement, Marxism, colonialism

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/118388

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis