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Violence, partisanship and transitional justice in Zimbabwe*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2011

Michael Bratton
Michael Bratton*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Michigan State University, 303 South Kedzie Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
*
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

What determines people's willingness to consider punishment for human rights abusers? This article investigates this question in the context of Zimbabwe in the aftermath of the country's violent presidential election campaign of June 2008. Based on a national probability sample survey, the paper shows that exposure to violence was reportedly widespread and that attitudes to transitional justice are mixed. In considering how to handle abuses, Zimbabweans weigh the pros and cons carefully and, recognising that peace and justice are difficult to obtain simultaneously, generally prefer the former. The article analyses the various factors that together predict a citizen's proclivity to claim transitional justice in its most demanding retributive form. Reflecting power relations, the results indicate that political partisanship is almost as important as individuals’ personal experience of actual and threatened acts of violence.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 49 , Issue 3 , September 2011 , pp. 353 - 380
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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Footnotes

*

I thank Eldred Masunungure for collaboration on all stages of research and analysis, and Karl Beck, Nic Cheeseman, Boniface Dulani, Adrienne LeBas, Timothy Longman, Tom Melia, Tony Reeler, Valerie Rosoux and three anonymous reviewers for insightful comments on earlier versions of this paper. All remaining errors are my own.

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