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Making an impact from the margins? Civil society groups in Zimbabwe's interim power-sharing process

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2016

Michael Aeby
Michael Aeby*
Affiliation:
University of Basel, History Department, Nebenzelg 1, CH-1717 St. Ursen, Switzerland
*
Email: michael.aeby@unibas.ch
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Abstract

The paper examines the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in Zimbabwe's interim power-sharing process. It identifies CSOs’ organisational capacity, nature of engagement in the political process and relations with the power-sharing parties as the principal issues affecting CSOs’ ability to promote peace-making and democratisation in the context of a transitional executive power-sharing process. Based on these analytical themes, the case analysis argues that CSOs’ sway on the transition was particularly constrained by organisational fragmentation and disunity, divergent strategies vis-à-vis the interregnum, diminishing access to political elites, the latter's refusal to permit greater civic involvement, and continued repression.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 54 , Issue 4 , December 2016 , pp. 703 - 728
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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