Description
Book SynopsisBuilding on socio-legal studies, anthropology, and performance studies, this book challenges depictions of law as a façade for political repression by examining political trials in Zimbabwe after 2000, looking beyond the repression/resistance binary as a way of understanding governments' and citizens' uses of law.
Trade Review'In Verheul's masterful account, law shapes (and is shaped by) political subjectivities and norms in crisis-ridden post-colonial Zimbabwe. We see how law works within the state and how meaningful legal practices, claims and institutions can be, for both those in authority and those who resist.' Sara Rich Dorman, University of Edinburgh
'Through a finely crafted interweaving of detailed courtroom ethnography, revealing interviews and carefully read legal documents, Susanne Verheul eloquently unfolds the complex relationships between history, law, politics, state authority and citizenship. While contextualised within Zimbabwe, this rich account and its analytical insights has great significance for a wide range of scholarly fields.' Amanda Hammar, University of Copenhagen
'A fascinating and vividly painted picture of the way in which power gets enacted in Zimbabwe's courtrooms and a must-read for socio-legal scholars and Africanists alike. Verheul manages to combine disciplinary perspectives and rich case material to dig deep into how power gets constituted and is performed. Highly recommended!' Barbara Oomen, Utrecht University
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Law, state authority and the courts, 1. History, authority and the law in Zimbabwe, 1950–2002; 2. 'Rebels' and 'good boys': examining the working conditions in Zimbabwe's attorney general's office after 2000; 3. 'Zimbabweans are foolishly litigious': debating citizenship when engaging with a politicised legal system; 4. 'What is abnormal is normal': performative politics on the stages of arrest and detention; 5. Material and sensory courtrooms: observing the 'decline of professionalism' in Harare's magistrates'' courts; 6. The trials of the 'traitor in Harare's magistrates' courts under the unity government; 7. History, consciousness and citizenship in Matabeleland: the impact of the MLF case; 8. Historical narrative and political strategy in Bulawayo's magistrates' courts: the case of Owen Maseko; Conclusion: 'Government is a legal fiction' – performing law, the state, citizenship and politics.
