Political economy of crisis, mining and accumulation in Zimbabwe : evidence from the Chegutu Mhondoro Area.

Ph.D. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.This thesis has its foundations in a 2007 master’s research on the political economy of “illegal” gold panning in central Zimbabwe. A book chapter (Moore and Mawowa, 2010) and a journal article (Mawowa, 2013) have since resulted from that work. The former work argues that illegal gold panning demonstrates a distinctive pattern of accumulation characterising post-2000 Zimbabwe. Four aspects of this pattern are identified namely, i) the link between coercion, chaos and disorder and wealth accumulation and political power retention, ii) the role of the state in this imbroglio, in particular, its pervasiveness and centrality, iii) that this pattern was shaped by and has remodelled the acquisitive instincts of Zimbabwe’s ruling elite and iv) a culture of ‘strategic contradictions’ within ruling elites abets this pattern of accumulation. This thesis does not move substantially from this premise. Instead, it recasts these observations within a much broader scope. While the Masters work was restricted to a very small area, this work looks at a much bigger area and in fact much further away from the area of MA research. While retaining the focus on political economy of mining, this work goes beyond illegal gold panning to encompass what is generally defined as artisanal and small scale (gold) mining (ASM) in the Chegutu Mhondoro area. Since this is an area where successful platinum mining is also taking place, it was opportune and indeed relevant to extend the question of political economy to this sector. This is not to suggest that there is a direct link (formal or informal) between ASM and platinum mining other than proximity. However, evidence presented in this thesis is telling in terms of the commonality between the two with regards to the four aspects of Zimbabwe’s post-2000 regime of accumulation

'Tapping into the chaos' : crisis, state and accumulation in Zimbabwe.

Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.The conjunctural dynamics of the Zimbabwe crisis after 2000 have produced a distinctive pattern of accumulation .Four features are noticeable in this pattern - firstly ; disorder and/or violence has become common , both as a general feature and driver of wealth accumulation and the political project accompanying it . Secondly ; the State has increasingly become more central and pervasive in driving accumulation and in the distribution of both economic and political goods . Thirdly , the crisis has awakened , reinforced and reshaped a distinctive acquisitive culture peculiar to the period in question , albeit resonating with the historical formation of Zimbabwe's ruling elite . Lastly , the current crisis has modified and reinforced a culture of 'strategic contradictions ' within ZANU-PF . This dissertation is an analysis of Zimbabwe's 'political economy of crisis ' in the post 2000 period . It examines how the Zimbabwean ruling elite and those connected to the state have benefited from the unregulated forms of accumulation attending the Zimbabwean crisis . A broad combination of a contextual analysis of the crisis and its beneficiaries and a close case-study analysis of an 'informal ' (illegal ) gold-mining site in Totororo , rural Kwekwe's 'Empress ' are a in Central Zimbabwe are employed to try to distil accumulation patterns that have resulted from the present economic and political crisis

Sentimentality or speculation? Diaspora investment, crisis economies and urban transformation

This article explores political and moral economies of diasporic investment in urban property. It challenges uncritical policy discourses on migrant investment that romanticise transnational family and entrepreneurial networks by assuming diasporic social embeddedness, mutual trust, risk-reduction and socio-economic benefits, often founded in neo-liberal assumptions. The article elaborates alternate starting propositions emphasising the conflicting interests and predatory business practices that characterise informalised state governance and episodes of crisis. It stresses the importance of understanding changing regulatory regimes over finance and urban property. Migrants’ desires need to be scrutinised in relation to those of a range of other actors who cannot be assumed to have convergent interests – including relatives, investment advisors, money transfer companies, estate agents, property developers. The article takes the case of hyperinflationary Zimbabwe, where remittances from the displaced middle classes not only provided essential familial support, but were also materialised in urban real estate, contributing to inflated property prices and a residential construction boom in the capital city. Diasporic investors were vulnerable to fraud due to the combination of effects of fantasies of successful return to dream homes and irregular regimes for remittances and property. But there were notable speculative opportunities for those with government connections. New diaspora suburbs and homes that have transformed the landscape of the Harare periphery stand as material testimony to the intersection of emigré sentimentality and the speculative informalised economy of the crisis years