Colonial gender structures as a contributing factor in influencing the political leadership landscape in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Gender equality has become one of the significant agendas in the international, regional, and national political discourse. This has led to the creation of mechanisms that are designed to address gender inequality in governance. These various instruments include legal and policy frameworks, for example that call for the increased political participation and representation of women in leadership and decision making positions. However, for gender equality to be realized in the context of gender transformation in African politics, women’s emancipation necessitates that gender equality be situated within historical power structures deep-rooted in colonialism that inform postcolonial political structures. Using Zimbabwe as a case study, this thesis examines the ways in which gendered colonial power structures have contributed to shaping gender transformation in the political leadership landscape. It unpacks these power structures in relation to current legal and policy frameworks for gender equality, those that govern women’s political participation and representation. It adopts an interpretivist policy analysis approach, a qualitative research method which provides an understanding of how subjective interpretations and historical contexts shape policy narratives. In-depth structured interviews, policy documents, and archival records are used as primary data sources, in combination with secondary data sources including academic and non-academic materials. The findings of this study suggest that legal and policy frameworks for gender equality are inadequate in accounting for gender inequalities. Beyond merely increasing the numerical representation of women in political leadership positions, there is a need to address underlying gendered colonial structural inequalities that frame the realities of women in postcolonial Zimbabwe.