Abstract
This comparative study of Zimbabwean immigrants in Britain illustrates why they should not be viewed as reified communities with fixed essence, but as a product of ethno-racial identities and prejudices developed and nurtured during the phases of Zimbabwe’s history. The introductory chapter contextualises the key debates by identifying historical experiences which had been instrumental in not only constructing relations between Zimbabwean immigrant communities, but also their economic and social integration processes. To validate the research, the chapter also discusses the methodologies used which were an analysis of personal interviews, participant observation, and secondary and primary sources. The quest to recognise historic legacies on Zimbabwean immigrants’ interactions and integration processes necessitated the first two thematic chapters to engage the construction of ethno-racial identities in the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial phases of Zimbabwe’s history.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Interview
Elizabeth, 6 November 2013 (Cumbria).
Secondary Sources
Adi, Hakim, ‘African Political Thinkers, Pan-Africanism and the Politics of Exile, c.1850–1970’, in Stefan Manz and Panikos Panayi (Eds), Refugees and Cultural Transfer to Britain (Abingdon: Routledge, 2013).
Auret, Diana, A Decade of Development: Zimbabwe 1980–1990 (Gweru: Mambo Press, 1990).
Austin, Reginald, Racism and Apartheid in Southern Africa–Rhodesia: A Book of Data (Paris: UNESCO Press, 1975).
Beach, David, Zimbabwe Before 1900 (Gweru: Mambo Press, 1984).
Berg, Bruce, Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences (London: Pearson, 2004).
Bleich, Erik, ‘The Legacies of History? Colonisation and Immigrants Integration in Britain and France’, Theory and Society, vol. 34 (2005), pp. 171–195.
Bloch, Alice, ‘Emigration from Zimbabwe: Migrant Perspectives’, Social Policy and Administration, vol. 40 (2006), pp. 67–87.
Brownell, Josiah, The Collapse of Rhodesia: Population Demographics and the Politics of Race (London: I.B. Tauris, 2011).
Bull, Theodore, Rhodesian Perspective (London: Michael Joseph, 1967).
Burrell, Kathy, Moving Lives: Narratives of Nation and Migration Among Europeans in Post-war Britain (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006).
Cohen, Robin, Frontiers of Identity: The British and the Others (London: Longman, 1994).
Davison, Robert Barry, Black British: Immigrants to England (London: Oxford University Press, 1966).
Dotson, Floyd, and Lillian Dotson, The Indian Minority of Zambia, Rhodesia and Malawi (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968).
Edward, Paul, ‘The Early African Presence in the British Isles’, in Jagdish Gundara and Ian Duffield (Eds), Essays on the History of Blacks in Britain (Aldershot: Avebury, 1992).
Eppel, Shari, ‘Gukurahundi: The Need for Truth and Reconciliation’, in Brian Raftopoulos and Tyron Savage (Eds), Zimbabwe: Injustice and Political Reconciliation (Cape Town: Institute of Justice and Reconciliation, 2004).
Fryer, Peter, Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain (London: Pluto, 1984).
Herbst, Jeffrey, State Politics in Zimbabwe (Harare: University of Zimbabwe Publications, 1990).
International Organisation of Migration, Zimbabwean Mapping Exercise, December 2006, Available at: http://unitedkingdom.iom.int/sites/default/sites/files/doc/mapping/IOM_ZIMBABWE20MR_pdf (Accessed on 29 April 2015).
Killingray, David, ‘Africans in the United Kingdom: An Introduction’, in David Killingray (Ed.), Africans in Britain (Ilford: Frank Cass, 1994).
King, Nigel, ‘The Qualitative Research Interview’, in Catherine Cassell and Gillian Symon (Eds), Qualitative Methods in Organisational Research: A Practical Guide (London: Sage, 1994).
Mano, Winston, and Wendy Willems, ‘Debating Zimbabweanness in Diasporic Internet Forums: Technologies of Freedom’, in JoAnn McGregor and Ranka Primorac (Eds), Zimbabwe’s New Diaspora (New York: Berghahn Books, 2010).
Mathews, Bob, and Liz Ross, The Research Methods: A Practical Guide for Social Sciences (London: Pearson, 2010).
Mbiba, Beacon, ‘Beyond Abject Spaces: Enterprising Zimbabwean Diaspora in Britain’, African Diaspora, vol. 4 (2011), pp. 50–75.
McGregor, JoAnn, ‘Joining the BBC (British Bottom Cleaners): Zimbabwean Migrants and the UK Care Industry’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 33 (2007), pp. 801–824.
McGregor, JoAnn, ‘The Making of Zimbabwe’s New Diaspora’, in JoAnn McGregor and Ranka Primorac (Eds), Zimbabwe: New Diaspora Displacement and Cultural Politics of Survival (New York: Berghahn Books, 2010).
McGregor, JoAnn, ‘Locating Exile: Decolonization, Anti-imperial Spaces and Zimbabwean Students in Britain, 1965–1980’, Journal of Historical Geography, vol. 57 (2017), pp. 62–75.
Mlambo, Alois, ‘Building a White Man’s Country: Aspects of White Immigration into Rhodesia Up to World War II’, Zambezia, vol. 25 (1998), pp. 123–146.
Muzondidya, James, ‘Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans: Invisible Subject Minorities and the Quest for Justice and Reconciliation in Post-colonial Zimbabwe’, in Brian Raftopoulos and Tyron Savage (Eds), Zimbabwe: Injustice and Political Reconciliation (Cape Town: Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, 2004).
Muzondidya, James, Walking a Tightrope: Towards a Social History of the Coloured Community of Zimbabwe (Trenton: Africa World Press, 2005).
Muzondidya, James, ‘Jambanja Ideological Ambiguities in the Politics of Land and Resource Ownership in Zimbabwe’, Journal of Southern African Studies, vol. 33 (2007), pp. 325–341.
Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Sabelo, ‘The Post-colonial State and Matabeleland: Regional Perceptions of Civil–Military Relations, 1980–2002’, in Rocky Williams, Gavin Cawthra, and Diane Abrahams (Eds), Ourselves to Know: Civil–Military Relations and Defence Transformation in Southern Africa (Pretoria: Institute of Security Studies, 2003).
Pape, John, ‘Black and White: The “Perils of Sex” in Colonial Zimbabwe’, Journal of Southern African Studies, vol. 16 (1990), pp. 699–720.
Pasura, Dominic, African Transnational Diasporas: Fractured Communities and Plural Identities of Zimbabweans in Britain (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).
Seirlis, Julie Kate, ‘Undoing the United Front? Coloured Soldiers in Rhodesia 1939–1980’, African Studies, vol. 63 (2004), pp. 73–93.
Website
Office of National Statistics, ‘2011 Census Analysis: Ethnicity and Religion of the Non-UK Born Population in England and Wales’. http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census-analysis/ethnicity-and-religion-of-non-uk-born-population-in-england-and-wales–2011-census/rpt.html#tab-Ethnicity-of-the-non-UK-born-population (Accessed on 20 October 2015).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Zembe, C.R. (2018). Introduction: Contextualising Debate. In: Zimbabwean Communities in Britain. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89683-0_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89683-0_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-89682-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-89683-0
eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)