Obert Bernard Mlambo | University of Zimbabwe (original) (raw)

Papers by Obert Bernard Mlambo

Springer eBooks, 2024

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Springer eBooks, 2024

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Springer eBooks, 2024

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Springer eBooks, 2024

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

University of Zimbabwe Publications eBooks, 2016

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Routledge eBooks, Jun 22, 2023

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Book, 2022

This study centres on the body of the soldier, the cultural production of images and representati... more This study centres on the body of the soldier, the cultural production of images and representations of gender which advance theoretical discussions around war, masculinity and violence. It employs a transcultural comparative approach based on a persistent factor found in both societies: land expropriation. Often articulated in a framework of patriarchy, land appropriation takes place in the context of war-shaped masculinities.The book fosters a deeper understanding of social processes, adding an important new perspective to the study of military violence, and paying attention to veterans' claims for rewards and compensation. These claims are developed in the context of war and its direct consequences, namely expropriation, confiscation and violence. Land Expropriation in Ancient Rome and Contemporary Zimbabwecontributes to current efforts to decolonise knowledge construction by revealing that a non-Western perspective can broaden our understanding of veterans, war, violence, land and gender in classical culture.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Routledge eBooks, Sep 14, 2022

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

African Minds eBooks, Oct 12, 2022

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

(u)Mzantsi Classics

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Bloomsbury Academic Publications, 2022

This book is a comparative study of the relationship between military veterans and land expropria... more This book is a comparative study of the relationship between military veterans and land expropriation in the client-army of the first-century BC Roman Republic and veterans of the Zimbabwean liberation war. The study centers on the body of the soldier, the cultural production of images, and representations of masculinity advancing theoretical discussions on war, masculinity, and violence. The analysis of these diverse cases aims to examine the cultural logic connecting masculinity, violence, and land.

The book employs a transcultural comparative approach based on a persistent factor found in both societies: land expropriation. Land appropriation takes place in the context of war-shaped masculinities, often articulated in a framework of patriarchy. The book fosters a deeper understanding of social processes, adding an important new perspective to the study of masculinity(ies) and military violence, understood in the context of veterans’ claims for rewards and compensation developed in the context of war and its direct consequences – expropriation, confiscations, violence, etc. The study equally reveals that a non-Western cultural perspective can broaden the understanding of classics, highlighting the discussion of veterans, war, masculinity, violence, land and gender in a classical culture.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

OBERT BERNARD MLAMBO Semiotics of Dress in Ancient Rome as male cultural dominance: Some parallel... more OBERT BERNARD MLAMBO Semiotics of Dress in Ancient Rome as male cultural dominance: Some parallels with Zimbabwe This paper explores the effects of the dress code, both male and female in Ancient Rome and in colonial and post-colonial Zimbabwe. It looks at gender related elements of the dress code of Classical Rome and modern Zimbabwe, and attempts to discover human sartorial behavior as is exhibited in Zimbabwe following its colonization. Dress, as a non-verbal communicative device plays a crucial role in authenticating and subverting socio-political myths. Dress is standardized, normalized, appreciated by the society or conversely, judged by the same society on different grounds. I argue that in Ancient Rome as in colonial and post colonial Zimbabwe dress was used to reinforce the inferior status of various social groups and in the process mystified and sanctified male authority and class authority. In the latter one detects a society that has tendencies of pragmatism, neutrality and inclusivity when it comes to dress, when in actual fact what is construed as normal, usual and reasonable is made to be so by the societal values that derive their impetus from the Victorian Culture of morality and dress. This culture, steeped in patriarchal tendencies, reinforced class related, race related, and political consciousness based on dress, among the Africans. There are precedents in Ancient Rome, where dressing was often associated with dogmatism and emperors would sign decrees to insist on a certain type of dress. In this context certain colors were thought to be too “startling” and “loud” for a lady to wear. There were colors that would be worn by prostitutes that were not fit for “staid matrons”. It is the secondary argument of this paper that, although, an indication of class, dress signifies many other things. Evidence and examples from Classical Rome will throw light on the occurrence of such things in Zimbabwe.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Personality Cult and Politics in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

African Identities

ABSTRACT This article investigates the Zimbabwean Liberation War veterans’ naming and labelling o... more ABSTRACT This article investigates the Zimbabwean Liberation War veterans’ naming and labelling of individuals and groups opposed to the Fast Track Land Reform Program (FTLRP) in post-2000 Zimbabwe. As instruments of political coercion, the two processes participated in the production of images of individuals and groups opposed to land expropriation, particularly white farmers and political opponents in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), that were at once grotesque and indicative of the polarized nature of political discourse in post-2000 Zimbabwe. The article evinces that naming and labelling participated in the articulation of the Zimbabwean Liberation War veterans’ sense of entitlement to land, resources and preferential treatment by the post-2000 Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) government of Robert Mugabe. Using the Zimbabwean Liberation War context in which post-2000 Zimbabwean political culture of framing reality in exclusionary terms finds its roots and inspiration, the article explores how veterans of the Zimbabwean Liberation War used names and labels to categorize people and phenomena, separating so-called patriots from exploiters and sell-outs. The discussion also explicates how the Zimbabwean Liberation War veterans held themselves up as yardsticks of commitment to patriotic citizenship in the context of a perceived ZANU-PF war against neo-colonialism.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

This article seeks to undertake a comparative study of the politics of corruption and organized v... more This article seeks to undertake a comparative study of the politics of corruption and organized violence in two historically, geographically, and culturally distinct societies, namely the Roman Republic and contemporary Zimbabwe. Based on the assumption that power politics undercut spatial-temporal distinctions, as has also been observed by Finley,2 this study extrapolates the Roman Republic’s nexus of political power, land and violence into the case of contemporary Zimbabwe. The article frames part of its argument in one aspect of Marx´s social theory of production and also Michel Foucault’s view of power as not just an abstraction but a force that defines itself in practical situations where it enables individuals to achieve and/or block certain goals. Thus, in both political landscapes, we consider land as one of the crucial sites where power plays out, and in this sense, draw upon the study of the economy of sharing resources in different parts of the world. We also argue that a...

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

The Journal of Pan-African Studies, 2016

Introduction Often-times people talk of rumour as just baseless statements that seek to discredit... more Introduction Often-times people talk of rumour as just baseless statements that seek to discredit the correct information. However, more often than not, almost all rumours have an element of truth in them and some even turn out to be true. In a country like Zimbabwe where information on what is happening on the political-economic sphere is not readily available, rumours seem to play the role of filling the gaps. Originating mostly from anonymous sources who happen to be close to the information at hand, rumours play the part of updating the general population on what is deemed to the true case of what will be happening in the state. Being spread by both the elite and the common person alike, rumour also plays the role of either expressing implicitly (or even explicitly) love or hatred towards one's political enemies. This paper seeks to explore the concept of rumour, bringing to the fore its importance in the Zimbabwean political and economic context, paying particular attention...

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

This article examined attitudes, knowledge, behavior and practices of men and society on Gender b... more This article examined attitudes, knowledge, behavior and practices of men and society on Gender bias in sports. The paper examined how the African female body was made into an object of contest between African patriarchy and the colonial system and also shows how the battle for the female body eventually extended into the sporting field. It also explored the postcolonial period and the effects on Zimbabwean society of the colonial ideals of the Victorian culture of morality. The study focused on school sports and the participation of the girl child in sports such as netball, volleyball and football. Reference was made to other sports but emphasis was given to where women were affected. It is in this case where reference to the senior women soccer team was made to provide a case study for purposes of illustration. Selected rural community and urban schools were served as case references for ethnographic accounts which provided the qualitative data used in the analysis. In terms of me...

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Springer eBooks, 2024

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Springer eBooks, 2024

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Springer eBooks, 2024

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Springer eBooks, 2024

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

University of Zimbabwe Publications eBooks, 2016

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Routledge eBooks, Jun 22, 2023

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Book, 2022

This study centres on the body of the soldier, the cultural production of images and representati... more This study centres on the body of the soldier, the cultural production of images and representations of gender which advance theoretical discussions around war, masculinity and violence. It employs a transcultural comparative approach based on a persistent factor found in both societies: land expropriation. Often articulated in a framework of patriarchy, land appropriation takes place in the context of war-shaped masculinities.The book fosters a deeper understanding of social processes, adding an important new perspective to the study of military violence, and paying attention to veterans' claims for rewards and compensation. These claims are developed in the context of war and its direct consequences, namely expropriation, confiscation and violence. Land Expropriation in Ancient Rome and Contemporary Zimbabwecontributes to current efforts to decolonise knowledge construction by revealing that a non-Western perspective can broaden our understanding of veterans, war, violence, land and gender in classical culture.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Routledge eBooks, Sep 14, 2022

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

African Minds eBooks, Oct 12, 2022

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

(u)Mzantsi Classics

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Bloomsbury Academic Publications, 2022

This book is a comparative study of the relationship between military veterans and land expropria... more This book is a comparative study of the relationship between military veterans and land expropriation in the client-army of the first-century BC Roman Republic and veterans of the Zimbabwean liberation war. The study centers on the body of the soldier, the cultural production of images, and representations of masculinity advancing theoretical discussions on war, masculinity, and violence. The analysis of these diverse cases aims to examine the cultural logic connecting masculinity, violence, and land.

The book employs a transcultural comparative approach based on a persistent factor found in both societies: land expropriation. Land appropriation takes place in the context of war-shaped masculinities, often articulated in a framework of patriarchy. The book fosters a deeper understanding of social processes, adding an important new perspective to the study of masculinity(ies) and military violence, understood in the context of veterans’ claims for rewards and compensation developed in the context of war and its direct consequences – expropriation, confiscations, violence, etc. The study equally reveals that a non-Western cultural perspective can broaden the understanding of classics, highlighting the discussion of veterans, war, masculinity, violence, land and gender in a classical culture.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

OBERT BERNARD MLAMBO Semiotics of Dress in Ancient Rome as male cultural dominance: Some parallel... more OBERT BERNARD MLAMBO Semiotics of Dress in Ancient Rome as male cultural dominance: Some parallels with Zimbabwe This paper explores the effects of the dress code, both male and female in Ancient Rome and in colonial and post-colonial Zimbabwe. It looks at gender related elements of the dress code of Classical Rome and modern Zimbabwe, and attempts to discover human sartorial behavior as is exhibited in Zimbabwe following its colonization. Dress, as a non-verbal communicative device plays a crucial role in authenticating and subverting socio-political myths. Dress is standardized, normalized, appreciated by the society or conversely, judged by the same society on different grounds. I argue that in Ancient Rome as in colonial and post colonial Zimbabwe dress was used to reinforce the inferior status of various social groups and in the process mystified and sanctified male authority and class authority. In the latter one detects a society that has tendencies of pragmatism, neutrality and inclusivity when it comes to dress, when in actual fact what is construed as normal, usual and reasonable is made to be so by the societal values that derive their impetus from the Victorian Culture of morality and dress. This culture, steeped in patriarchal tendencies, reinforced class related, race related, and political consciousness based on dress, among the Africans. There are precedents in Ancient Rome, where dressing was often associated with dogmatism and emperors would sign decrees to insist on a certain type of dress. In this context certain colors were thought to be too “startling” and “loud” for a lady to wear. There were colors that would be worn by prostitutes that were not fit for “staid matrons”. It is the secondary argument of this paper that, although, an indication of class, dress signifies many other things. Evidence and examples from Classical Rome will throw light on the occurrence of such things in Zimbabwe.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Personality Cult and Politics in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

African Identities

ABSTRACT This article investigates the Zimbabwean Liberation War veterans’ naming and labelling o... more ABSTRACT This article investigates the Zimbabwean Liberation War veterans’ naming and labelling of individuals and groups opposed to the Fast Track Land Reform Program (FTLRP) in post-2000 Zimbabwe. As instruments of political coercion, the two processes participated in the production of images of individuals and groups opposed to land expropriation, particularly white farmers and political opponents in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), that were at once grotesque and indicative of the polarized nature of political discourse in post-2000 Zimbabwe. The article evinces that naming and labelling participated in the articulation of the Zimbabwean Liberation War veterans’ sense of entitlement to land, resources and preferential treatment by the post-2000 Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) government of Robert Mugabe. Using the Zimbabwean Liberation War context in which post-2000 Zimbabwean political culture of framing reality in exclusionary terms finds its roots and inspiration, the article explores how veterans of the Zimbabwean Liberation War used names and labels to categorize people and phenomena, separating so-called patriots from exploiters and sell-outs. The discussion also explicates how the Zimbabwean Liberation War veterans held themselves up as yardsticks of commitment to patriotic citizenship in the context of a perceived ZANU-PF war against neo-colonialism.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

This article seeks to undertake a comparative study of the politics of corruption and organized v... more This article seeks to undertake a comparative study of the politics of corruption and organized violence in two historically, geographically, and culturally distinct societies, namely the Roman Republic and contemporary Zimbabwe. Based on the assumption that power politics undercut spatial-temporal distinctions, as has also been observed by Finley,2 this study extrapolates the Roman Republic’s nexus of political power, land and violence into the case of contemporary Zimbabwe. The article frames part of its argument in one aspect of Marx´s social theory of production and also Michel Foucault’s view of power as not just an abstraction but a force that defines itself in practical situations where it enables individuals to achieve and/or block certain goals. Thus, in both political landscapes, we consider land as one of the crucial sites where power plays out, and in this sense, draw upon the study of the economy of sharing resources in different parts of the world. We also argue that a...

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

The Journal of Pan-African Studies, 2016

Introduction Often-times people talk of rumour as just baseless statements that seek to discredit... more Introduction Often-times people talk of rumour as just baseless statements that seek to discredit the correct information. However, more often than not, almost all rumours have an element of truth in them and some even turn out to be true. In a country like Zimbabwe where information on what is happening on the political-economic sphere is not readily available, rumours seem to play the role of filling the gaps. Originating mostly from anonymous sources who happen to be close to the information at hand, rumours play the part of updating the general population on what is deemed to the true case of what will be happening in the state. Being spread by both the elite and the common person alike, rumour also plays the role of either expressing implicitly (or even explicitly) love or hatred towards one's political enemies. This paper seeks to explore the concept of rumour, bringing to the fore its importance in the Zimbabwean political and economic context, paying particular attention...

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

This article examined attitudes, knowledge, behavior and practices of men and society on Gender b... more This article examined attitudes, knowledge, behavior and practices of men and society on Gender bias in sports. The paper examined how the African female body was made into an object of contest between African patriarchy and the colonial system and also shows how the battle for the female body eventually extended into the sporting field. It also explored the postcolonial period and the effects on Zimbabwean society of the colonial ideals of the Victorian culture of morality. The study focused on school sports and the participation of the girl child in sports such as netball, volleyball and football. Reference was made to other sports but emphasis was given to where women were affected. It is in this case where reference to the senior women soccer team was made to provide a case study for purposes of illustration. Selected rural community and urban schools were served as case references for ethnographic accounts which provided the qualitative data used in the analysis. In terms of me...

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

At Isegoria Publishing, we support the work of colleagues worldwide, especially those from outsid... more At Isegoria Publishing, we support the work of colleagues worldwide, especially those from outside mainstream academic backgrounds and in the Global South, irrespective of their publisher. Thus, even if you have not published your work with Isegoria Publishing (although you should genuinly try!), you can still find a place to tell your story and reach an expanded audience. Short interviews will feature in our Author Profiles, with additional audio-visual content in our social media outlets. Our first author is Obert Bernardo Mlambo, Associate Professor of Classics (Zimbabwe).

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

This international panel addresses the entanglement of Classics with politics from a global persp... more This international panel addresses the entanglement of Classics with politics from a global perspective. Indeed, it is a widespread and universal practice – not restricted within the confinements of the Global North – for political authorities and power groups to deliver strong messages that begin with claims or references to classical tradition or require a popular ascription to that particular past. The evocation of the classical past appeals to emotion rather than reason, typically to create ties among a targeted group or exclude outsiders. The panel brings together colleagues from four continents to discuss representative cases of the uses of Classics in political discourse in their respective countries. All focus on uses and abuses of the Classical past at the higher echelons of political power or power groups across various constitutions and cultural backgrounds. The panel examines Classical receptions and appropriations in global peripheries in South America (Mexico, Brazil, Colombia), China, and Zimbabwe, before moving to an area at the heart of the Classical World to tackle the (ab)use of Classics in two neighbouring Balkan states (Greece and North Macedonia). In all these locales, Classics have been used to build or burn bridges, and we unravel a discussion of critical aspects of our discipline. What should be the role of Classics in our Strange New World? Has our field negotiated sufficiently its rather problematic entanglement with political authorities? Can Classics, with a past blemished by colonialism and the white man's burden, serve the purpose of next-generation values in a globalised world championing equality, inclusion, fairness, and diversity rather than segregation, exclusion, and biases? What is the role of academics in spirited political discussions that distort historical interpretations to serve changing political purposes?

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact