Struggles for Citizenship: Malawians in Post-Independent Zimbabwe
by Zoe Groves, Post-doctoral Researcher, Wiser,
Wits University.
Date: Tuesday, 21 August 2012
Time: 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Location: Dean's Committee Room, Room 22, South West Engineering Building, East Campus, University of the Witwatersrand
RSVP: Aurelia Segatti 011 717 4047 [log in to unmask]
Abstract
In 2002, the Zimbabwean government passed a new Citizenship Act disenfranchising people of foreign parentage. This Act affected people of Malawian, Mozambican and Zambian descent, many of whom were born in (Southern) Rhodesia to parents who came to the country as migrant labourers. In 2003 an amendment bill was passed exempting those with parents born in a SADC country from the Act's new provisions, providing they renounced their claims to citizenship elsewhere. Despite the amendment, the status of 'Malawians' in Zimbabwe remains ambiguous; many still carry the status of 'alien' on their identity cards. Drawing from newspapers, human rights reports and interviews conducted in 2008, this paper explores Malawian experiences of inclusion and exclusion in post-independence Zimbabwe. Close attention is given to urban residents affected by the 2005 slum clearances ('Operation Murambatsvina') and continuities with historical trends are noted. Following independence, people of Malawian descent were welcomed as citizens of the new African state. Since 2000 and the shift in Zimbabwean politics from an inclusive 'civic nationalism' to a new form of exclusive nationalism shaped by ZANU-PF and its allies, selected categories of subjects have been excluded from national belonging. This paper considers several issues: how have 'Malawians' articulated their belonging to the Zimbabwean nation in light of these changes, and how they have responded to accusations of foreignness? Furthermore, what can be learnt from this example in terms of struggles over citizenship in contemporary southern African states?
Biographical note
Zoe Groves is a postdoctoral research fellow in Humanities at WISER. She received a PhD in African History from Keele University in June 2011. At Keele, she also obtained a BA in International History and Philosophy (2004) and an MRes in African History (2005). Her PhD thesis examined the social, cultural and political lives of 'Nyasas' (Malawians), situating them within Salisbury (Harare) and tracing their experiences during rapid urbanisation, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and the rise of Malawian and Zimbabwean nationalisms. This work highlighted the cultural contribution of Nyasa migrants to the city and provided new insights into the connections between regional nationalist movements. While conducting her doctoral research Zoe held research associate status at the University of Zimbabwe and was affiliated with the history department at the Chancellor College, University of Malawi. More broadly, her research interests lie in African urban history, transnational migration in central and southern Africa, and formations of class, ethnic and national identities. Her new research project will investigate social histories of migration between South Africa and Zimbabwe. By again employing a bi-focal methodology, this work seeks to challenge conventional nation-based approaches to historical research.
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