Mugabe embraced African nationalism and anti-colonialism during the 1960s.[414] Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni characterised âMugabeismâ as a populist movement that was âmarked by ideological simplicity, emptiness, vagueness, imprecision, and multi-class characterâ,[415] further noting that it was âa broad churchâ.[416] He also characterised it as a form of âleft-nationalismâ,[417] which consistently railed against imperialism and colonialism.[418] He also argued that it was a form of nativism,[419] which was permeated by a strong âcult of victimisationâ in which a binary view was propagated where Africa was a âvictimâ and the West was its âtormentorâ.[420] He suggested that it had been influenced by a wide range of ideologies, among them forms of Marxism like Stalinism and Maoism, as well as African nationalist ideologies like Nkrumaism, Ujamaa, Garveyism, NĂŠgritude, Pan-Africanism, and African neo-traditionalism.[415] Mugabism sought to deal with the problem of white settler racism by engaging in a project of anti-white racism that sought to deny white Zimbabweans citizenship by constantly referring to them as âamabhunu/Boersâ, thus enabling their removal from their land.[421]
Mugabeism as a form of populist reason is a multifaceted phenomenon requiring a multi-pronged approach to decipher its various meanings. At one level it represents pan-African memory and patriotism and at another level it manifests itself as a form of radical left-nationalism dedicated to resolving intractable national and agrarian questions. Yet, to others, it is nothing but a symbol of crisis, chaos and tyranny emanating from the exhaustion of nationalism.
ZANU-PF claimed that it was influenced by MarxismâLeninism although Onslow and Redding stated that in contrast to the Marxist emphasis on the urban proletariat as the main force of socio-economic change, Mugabeâs party accorded that role to the rural peasantry.[338] As a result of this pro-rural view, they argued, Mugabe and the ZANU-PF demonstrated an anti-urban bias.[338] The English academic Claire Palley met Mugabe in 1962, later noting that âhe struck me as not so much a doctrinaire Marxist but an old-fashioned African nationalistâ,[423] while Tekere claimed that for Mugabe, Marxism-Leninism was âjust rhetoricâ with âno genuine vision or belief behind itâ.[424] Carington noted that while Mugabe used Marxist rhetoric during the Lancaster House negotiations, âof course he didnât actually practice what he preached, did he? Once in office he became a capitalistâ.[425] Mugabe has stated that âsocialism has to be much more Christian than capitalismâ.[426] The Zimbabwean scholar George Shire described Mugabeâs policies as being âbroadly-speakingâ social-democratic.[427]
During the 1980s, Mugabe indicated his desire to transform Zimbabwe from a multi-party state into a one-party state.[428]Â In 1984 he stated that âthe one-party state is more in keeping with African tradition. It makes for greater unity for the people. It puts all opinions under one umbrella, whether these opinions are radical or reactionaryâ.[428]Â The political scientist Sue Onslow and historian Sean Redding stated that Zimbabweâs situation was âmore complex than pure venial dictatorshipâ, but that it was an âideo-dictatorshipâ.[284]
Ndlovu-Gatsheni argued that since the mid-1990s, Mugabeâs rhetoric and speeches came to be dominated by three main themes: an obsession with a perceived British threat to re-colonise Zimbabwe, to transfer the land controlled by white farmers to the black population, and issues of belonging and patriotism.[429] References to the Rhodesian Bush War featured prominently in Mugabeâs speeches.[373] The scholar of African studies Abiodun Alao noted that Mugabe was determined to âtake advantage of the past in order to secure a firm grip on national securityâ.[430]
David Blair stated that âMugabeâs collected writings amount to nothing more than crude Marxism, couched in the ponderous English of the mission schoolâ, remarking that they were heavily informed by Karl Marx, Mao Zedong, and Frantz Fanon, and displayed little originality.[115] Blair noted that Mugabeâs writings called for âcommand economics in a peasant society, mixed with anti-colonial nationalismâ, and that in this he held âthe same opinions as almost every other African guerrilla leaderâ of that period.[115] Mugabe argued that following the overthrow of European colonial regimes, Western countries continued to keep African countries in a state of subservience because they desired the continentâs natural resources while preventing it from industrialising.[431]
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