Becoming Zimbabwe is the first comprehensive history of Zimbabwe,
spanning the years from 850 to 2008. In 1997, the then Secretary General
of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, Morgan Tsvangirai, expressed
the need for a 'more open and critical process of writing history in
Zimbabwe. ...The history of a nation-in-the-making should not be reduced
to a selective heroic tradition, but should be a tolerant and continuing
process of questioning and re-examination.' Becoming Zimbabwe tracks the
idea of national belonging and citizenship and explores the nature of
state rule, the changing contours of the political economy, and the
regional and international dimensions of the country's history. In their
Introduction, Brian Raftopoulos and Alois Mlambo enlarge on these
themes, and Gerald Mazarire's opening chapter sets the pre-colonial
background. Sabelo Ndlovu tracks the history up to WW11, and Alois
Mlambo reviews developments in the settler economy and the emergence of
nationalism leading to UDI in 1965. The politics and economics of the
UDI period, and the subsequent war of liberation, are covered by Joesph
Mtisi, Munyaradzi Nyakudya and Teresa Barnes. After independence in
1980, Zimbabwe enjoyed a period of buoyancy and hope. James Muzondidya's
chapter details the transition 'from buoyancy to crisis', and Brian
Raftopoulos concludes the book with an analysis of the decade-long
crisis and the global political agreement which followed.
