The Introduction situates the book within a conceptual framework, focused on theorising the relationships between law, state and society, as well as the role of performance in courtroom trials. It then explains why Zimbabwe offers an important case study to examine the questions raised by this framework, and describes the methodologies used to conduct the study. Finally, it sets out the structure of the remaining chapters of this book.

Chapter 6 moves away from the focus on performances by human rights lawyers and defendants to look at the narratives state prosecutors told in the court. It focuses on the trial of Munyaradzi Gwisai, leader of the International Socialist Organisation in Zimbabwe and his five co-defendants. Against the backdrop of the Arab Spring uprisings, ZANU-PF used its courtroom narratives to delineate the limits to the party’s tolerance for political protest, and articulated the consequences faced by those who were thought to be testing these limits. Two state prosecutors, Michael Reza and Edmore Nyazamba, and their star witness, Jonathan Shoko, reminded the court, and the public within and beyond its wall, of ZANU-PF’s responsibility for upholding the security of the nation against local manifestations of ‘foreign’ and ‘imperialist’ influences.