Past Event

The Institute of African Studies and the Institute of Political Economy present

“Studying Zimbabwean Politics: From Historical Materialism to Magical Realism?”

with

David Moore, University of Johannesburg

Wednesday, January 21, 1:00- 2:30 pm

433 Paterson Hall (History Lounge), Carleton University*

After nearly 35 years of studying politics in Zimbabwe through the lenses of soft (Gramscian/hegemony) and hard (classical Marxist/primitive accumulation) forms of historical materialism this researcher realised he could not understand Zimbabwe’s 2013 election as it unfolded. A chance encounter with some of the ideas of magical realism presented a gleam of an alternative to him. This seminar will explore options for further study through these eyes.

David Moore studied Journalism at Carleton for one year in 1974 and went on to gain a Political Science Phd from York (Toronto) in 1990. Since then he has taught in Alberta, Australia, Durban in South Africa and from 2008 in the University of Johannesburg’s Department of Anthropology and Development Studies as a Professor of the latter. Along the way he has edited books on development theory and written on African political economy, especially Zimbabwe. Recent articles include ‘Coercion, Consent, and the Construction of Capitalism in Africa: Development Studies, Political Economy, Politics and the “Dark Continent”’, in Transformation, 2014 and ‘Death or Dearth of Democracy in Zimbabwe?’, Africa Spectrum, 2014.

See  Poster: Moore – Zimbabwe