State as patriarch and biblical discipline: theorising state sponsored violence in Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT

Although political violence has characterized the Zimbabwe body politic from colonial times, state-sponsored political violence escalated from the time of the violent land reform in the early 2000s. The violence has been well documented; however, the possible factors underlying it have not been well reflected on. When the state unleashes violence among its people, who does it think itself to be and what does it believe its role to be? This article attempts to answer this question from a gender theory perspective debating the gender of the state. States have been described as either male or female with gender scholars often concluding that the state is a direct expression of men’s interests. This has led to the idea of a ‘male state’ or a ‘sado-state’ in the words of Mary Daly (Gyn/Ecology) who assimilated the state to the destructive aspect of male sexuality. Arguing along this line, this article theorises that state-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe is a result of a state that sees itself as the disciplining father who takes a cue from the biblical teachings of ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’. The article provides a history of state-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe, considers patriarchy and biblical teachings on disciplining as factors influencing the violence and then calls for a new perspective of the gender of the state for addressing state-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe.

KEYWORDS:

• State-sponsored violence
• state
• discipline
• gender
• patriarchy
• Zimbabwe

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. We believe theology plays a role considering the dominance of Christianity in the country and the citations of biblical texts to support government/party actions. The Censal Demography Survey of 2017 put the Christian population in the country at 84.1% (Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency, 2017).

2. Beginning with Aristotle, some political philosophers have argued that the state mirrors the patriarchal family with people obeying the ruler as children obey the father in a family.

3. Like other modern cultures, Zimbabwe culture is fast changing. Whereas there are some who remain holding on to the traditional cultural practices, others have abandoned some of the traditional cultural practices.

4. Although the ruling party and the state/government should be separated, in the case of Zimbabwe, there is almost no difference between the party and the state as appointments to strategic state institutions are generally done on party affiliation basis. Heads of state security institutions such as the army, the police, correctional services and intelligence (institutions associated with state-sponsored violence) have always been headed by ZANU PF party loyalists since independence. This explains why we use state and ZANU PF almost interchangeably in this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lovemore Togarasei

Lovemore Togarasei is a Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious, University of Botswana where he teaches courses in Biblical Studies and Theology. He is also a Research Associate, Research Institute of Religion and Theology, University of South Africa. He holds a PhD in New Testament Studies and African Christianity from the University of Zimbabwe. He has published widely on the Bible in African (especially Pentecostal) Christianity. His recent publication is a book entitled Religion and Development in Africa, edited together with Ezra Chitando and Masiiwa R. Gunda (University of Bamberg Press, 2020). He can be contacted on [email protected].