When South Africa tried to make Zimbabwe its fifth province : settler colonial interests and legacies of the 1922 Rhodesian referendum

Abstract

This article is an introduction to a special issue on the hundred year scholarly reflections on the Rhodesian referendum and subsequent attainment of Responsible Government status. Foregrounded by an assessment of factors that led to the 1922 referendum, what follows examines new themes about the implications of Southern Rhodesia's settler state. A product of a workshop hosted by the University of Pretoria in 2023, the article introduces the studies carried in the special issue. It also points to possible new themes for future research on citizenship, state and economy-making that new research could explore.