The ‘Fascist Cycle’ in Zimbabwe, 2000–2005

Abstract

Following a comparative model of fascism developed by Robert O. Paxton, this article explores the similarities between a fascist cycle in Italy (1920–1924) and Zimbabwe (2000–2005). The comparison focuses on the following areas: the state's use of paramilitary organisations, or militias, to maintain or regain control; the abuse of legislative and judicial powers to protect ruling party interests; party membership as a prerequisite for involvement in basic areas of social and economic life; and the primacy of political survival over strategic economic planning. This article also explores the historical authoritarian and fascist models from pre-Independence white-minority governments, and investigates the wider significance of an older fascist political tradition for understanding the current crisis. While drawing a comparison of this ‘fascist cycle’ in Italy and Zimbabwe, this article suggests that those outside Zimbabwe who support the current regime as pan-Africanist are misreading the relationship between older ideologies of race-defined liberation movements and current strategies by a conservative elite to maintain control of the state and economy. Similarly, those western observers who seek to use the Zimbabwean crisis as an example of ‘failed’ governance miss the specific political logic of the past five years. By emphasising Paxton's comparative concept of a ‘fascist cycle’, this article questions explanations of the crisis based either on race or a particularly ‘African’ political style.