Whiteness and destitution: Deconstructing whiteness and white privilege in postcolonial Zimbabwe

Abstract

English: This research entailed an ethnographic and netnographic study of white destitution to establish how white destitution is understood and framed differently in the changing material and political contexts of Zimbabwe. This research documented and analysed the narratives of those facing destitution at the Braeside Salvation Army Centre, including those in the streets of the Northern suburbs of Harare. It also explored the manifestations of destitution among these people as well as the attitudes and beliefs of members of dedicated expatriate Facebook groups regarding the issue of white destitution. Furthermore, using these narratives, the research explored how destitution is understood in ways that (re)produce white nationalism, white supremacy, racism and, in some extreme cases, anti-blackness. This study also examined the mechanisms in which white solidarity, white racial iconoclasm and escapism manifest through philanthropic help given to white people facing destitution through engaging with these narratives. The analysis was guided by a postcolonial intersectional whiteness lens combining key concepts from postcolonial theory such as notions of difference and hybridity by Homi Bhabha, an array of concepts associated with whiteness studies, intersectionality theory borrowed from feminist theory cross-fertilised with the works of Frantz Fanon, and Michel Foucault’s notion of heterotopia. This lens offered a useful approach to studying the phenomenon of white destitution within a qualitative research methodology. The conceptually rich theoretical framework facilitated the in-depth understanding of the empirical data and allowed for the problematising of the notion of ‘whiteness’ beyond the limits of the current theoretical boundaries in whiteness studies. The study contributed to examining the making of national racial history through transnational and global linkages, practices, philosophies, and professional and personal associations. The major contribution of this research can be described as problematising white social identity through intersectionality, which revealed that ‘whiteness’ functions as a complicated continuum of privilege and dependency rather than a static and homogenous bloc.

Other: Tsvagurudzo ino yakaitwa nenzira yeongororo yemafungiro nemaonero evanhu mutsika nemagariro avo pamwe neyeongororo yemawadzanirano evanhu padandemutande iyo iri pamusoro pekushaya cheuviri kwevachena. Chinyorwa chinochinoburitsa pachena manzwisisirwo eurombo hwevachena uye kuti hunotsanangurwa zvakasiyana-siyana zvichienderana nemasandukiro emamiriro ezveupfumi nematongerwo enyika muZimbabwe. Itsvagurudzo inotsigirwa nezvinyorwa pamwe nekuongorora ngano dzevachena vanotambudzika paMuzinda weBraeside Salvation Army Centre neavo vari mumigwagwa yemisha iri Kumaodzanyemba kweguta reHarare. Gwaro rino rinoongorora zvekare maonekerwo eurombo muvanhu ava uyezve nemafungiro nematendero enhengo dzemapoka akazvipira emaFesibhuku ezvizvarwa zvedzimwe nyika zvine muono wekuti Zimbabwe inyika yavo yechipikirwa nezvimwe zvizvarwa zvechichenzveZimbabwe maringe nenyaya yehurombo kwevachena. Kubva mungano idzi, gwaro rino rinoongorora manzwisisirwo anoitwa urombo hwevachena nenzira dzinoburitsa shuviro yekuzvitonga kuzere kwavachena, kuzvitutumadza kwavachena, rusaruraganda, kubatana kwavachena apo vanenge vaine fungidziro yekuti zvido zvavo zvinoita sezvinomhurwa uye kutaridza ruvengo rwukuru rwevatemaOngororo ino yakaedza zvakare kuongorora kubva mungano dzavachena mabudire anoita kubatana kwavachena, kuzvitutumadza kwavachena nekuedza kunzvenga chokwadi kunoita vachena apo vanenge vachipanana batsiro yekurwisana nehurombo pakati pavo. Ongororo iyi inotungamirwa neziso repfungwa yeuchena yekubatana kweurongwa hwekusaenzana munyika dzakambodzvanyirirwa nedzimwe ichibwerengedza pfungwa dzakakosha dzehwaro hwemaonero epfungwa dzeupenyu hwevanhu vakambogara muudzvanyiriri hwakaita semanzwisisirwo ekusiyana kwezvinhu/vanhu pamwe nemusanganiswa wetsika dzinobva kuna Homi Bhabha, ungwanda-ungwanda hwepfungwa dzinofambidzana nezvidzidzo zveuchena, pfungwa yekubatana kweurongwa hunokonzera kusaenzana dzakakweretwa kubva kupfungwa yemaonero yehunhukadzi ichisanganisa nepfungwa dzezvinyorwa zvaFrantz Fanon, pamwe nepfungwa yaMichel Foucault yenzvimbo dzehurukuro dzakasiyana nedzimwe. Maonero aya akapa nzira ine budiriro yekudzidza pamusoro pezvechiitiko cheurombo hwevachena kuri muhwaro hwenzira yetsvagurudzo inokoshesa kubudisa chokwadi kuburikidza neongororo yemafungiro nemaonero evanhu mutsika nemagariro. Hwaro hwepfungwa yemaonero hwakapfuma kudai hwakabatsira kunzwisisa kwakadzama kwemashoko ekuzvionera pachezvako uye kwakabvumira kuti zano re‘uchena’ rive dambudziko rinoda tsvagurudzo inodarika mberi kwemiganhu yepfungwa dzehwaro hwemaonero amazuvano muzvidzidzo zveuchena. Tsvagurudzo ino inowedzera ruzivo maererano nezvekuongororwa kwemaumbirwo enhoroondo yenyika yezvemarudzi kuburikidza nezvekudyidzana pakati penyika nepasi rose, tsika, pfungwa dzakadzama, uye newadzano dzezveunyanzvi hwemabasa nemunhu pachezvake. Wedzero huru yetsvagurudzo ino kuruzivo inokwanisa kutsanangurwa kuburikidza nekutora chimiro chemagariro evachena sedambudziko rinoda tsvagurudzo kuburikudza nepfungwa yekusangana kweurongwa hwekusaenzana, iyo yakaburitsa pachena kuti ‘uchena’ hunoshanda semuronda wakaoma wekodzero nekurarama uye nekubatsirwa nevamwe, pane kuonekwa sechimisikidzwa chisingasanduke uye chine zviri machiri zvakangofanana.