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Zimbabwe’s consolidation as a gatekeeper state

Gallagher, Julia

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Authors

Julia Gallagher



Abstract

Cooper’s gatekeeper state theory provides a powerful way to read recent Zimbabwean politics, but the country also challenges his assumptions about both the elite-led nature of gatekeeping, and deterministic assumptions about its direct emergence from colonialism. Drawing on ordinary Zimbabweans’ perspectives, I make two arguments. First, I show how consolidation of Zimbabwe’s ‘gate’ has been shaped by events and contingent reactions to them since 1980, complicating Cooper’s focus on the immanence of colonial structures. Second, I show how consolidation has been achieved through popular ideas of and engagement with the outside world. This has been done in reaction to the increasing solidity and narrowness of the gate – in the ways Zimbabweans themselves work around it – but also in a shift in the ways Zimbabwean people think about the legitimacy of gatekeeping.

Citation

Gallagher, J. (2018). Zimbabwe’s consolidation as a gatekeeper state. Third world thematics, 3(3), 439-454. https://doi.org/10.1080/23802014.2018.1446762

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 26, 2018
Online Publication Date Mar 8, 2018
Publication Date Mar 8, 2018
Deposit Date Aug 14, 2018
Publicly Available Date Aug 16, 2018
Print ISSN 2380-2014
Electronic ISSN 2379-9978
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 3
Issue 3
Pages 439-454
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/23802014.2018.1446762
Keywords Zimbabwe, gatekeeper state, Frederick Cooper, legitimacy, citizens

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