La politica autoritaria della ZANU-PF in Zimbabwe. La rielaborazione del nazionalismo mediante una 'storia patriottica

• Autore: Mario Zamponi
• Carica: Professore ordinario di Storia e Istituzioni dell'Africa presso il Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche e Sociali dell'Università di Bologna
• Pagine: 141-164

ISSN: 2612-6672

2 • 2 • 2020

M. Zamponi

La politica autoritaria della ZANU-PF

in Zimbabwe. La rielaborazione

del nazionalismo mediante una

“storia patriottica”

https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/NAD/index

La politica autoritaria della ZANU-PF in Zimbabwe.

La rielaborazione del nazionalismo mediante una “storia

patriottica”

Mario Zamponi

Abstract

Zimbabwe has experienced a complex colonial history that resulted in heavy legacies on

the independent state. The article investigates reasons and characteristics of the political,

economic, and social crisis that the country has been going through since 1996. The crisis

of legitimacy of the government party and of its president Robert Mugabe ˗ in power

since the country’s independence, from 1980 to 2017 ˗ was addressed with t he use of

rhetorical languages that referred to the building of a new nation, to patriotism.

Languages that emphasized the struggle for liberation as well as the myths on the

country’s foundation, while contemplating a new nationalism that inherited the harsh

anti-colonial struggle. These elements have forged a new dimension of sovereignty and of

the national question, which led, among other things, to the restitution by expropriation of

the land occupied by the white minority during the colonial period. 2017 sees the end of

Mugabe’s government. However, the situation is still uncertain. It is difficult to say if the

country has really entered a new phase of its political life. There are still many elements

of continuity: history has left a heavy legacy on Zimbabwe’s political future.

Keywords: Zimbabwe – democracy – authoritarianism – nationalism – patriottism.

SOMMARIO: 1. La crisi del paese. 2. «Long Live the People of Zimbabwe! Long

Live our Independence! Long Live Africa». Nazionalismo e legittimità. 3.

Sovranità e questione nazionale. 4. La liberazione incompiuta: una nuova storia

patriottica. 5. Da Mugabe a Mnangagwa: vino nuovo in botti vecchie? 6.

Considerazioni conclusive.

 Professore ordinario di Storia e Istituzioni dell’Africa presso il Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche

e Sociali dell’Università di Bologna. Il testo è stato sottoposto a doppio referaggio cieco.