For farmers, by farmers : using the farmer magazine to write the history of white farmers in Zimbabwe, 1980-2002

Abstract

This paper explores the benefits of using in-house periodicals for writing the history of interest groups and unions in southern Africa. In particular, it focuses on using The Farmer magazine as a source to write more nuanced social and cultural histories of white farmers in Zimbabwe. The importance of The Farmer to the white farming community is laid out and it is argued that longterm and detailed readings of this magazine offer the opportunity to explore the evolutions in discourse within the farming community, the processes of transition and the ambiguities of independence for a group like the white farmers. The uses described are ones that have rarely been put into practice in southern Africa, but are also ones that can be easily transposed to other settings and context.