The Unbearable Whiteness of Being: Farmers' Voices from ZimbabweThe history of colonial land alienation, the grievances fuelling the liberation war, and post-independence land reforms have all been grist to the mill of recent scholarship on Zimbabwe. Yet for all that the country's white farmers have received considerable attention from academics and journalists, the fact that they have always played a dynamic role in cataloguing and representing their own affairs has gone unremarked. It is this crucial dimension that Rory Pilossof explores in The Unbearable Whiteness of Being. His examination of farmers' voices - in The Farmer magazine, in memoirs, and in recent interviews - reveals continuities as well as breaks in their relationships with land, belonging and race. His focus on the Liberation War, Operation Gukurahundi and the post-2000 land invasions frames a nuanced understanding of how white farmers engaged with the land and its peoples, and the political changes of the past 40 years. The Unbearable Whiteness of Being helps to explain why many of the events in the countryside unfolded in the ways they did. |
Contents
Introduction Why the Voices of White Farmers? | 1 |
1 White Farmers their Representatives in Zimbabwe 18902000 | 11 |
2 No Country for White Men White Farmers the FastTrack Land Reforms and Jambanja 20002004 | 43 |
3 Discourses of Apoliticism in The Farmer | 67 |
4 Discursive Thresholds Episodes of Crisis The Liberation War Gukurahundi the Land Occupations | 117 |
5 The Consolidation of Voice White Farmers Autobiographies the Narration of Experience after 2000 | 149 |
6 Orphans of Empire Oral Expressions of Displacement Trauma | 187 |
Appendix 1 CFU structure list of past presidents | 214 |
Appendix 4 The number of largescale commercial farms the total area occupied in hectares 19701999 | 219 |
Appendix 5 White farmers killed between 196479 198187 and 200004 | 220 |
Appendix 6 Date of purchase on the title deeds of farming properties listed in the 1997 acquisition list | 228 |
Appendix 7 Biographical data on white farmers interviewed | 229 |
| 237 | |
| 257 | |
Epigraph | 266 |
Back cover | 269 |
Appendix 2 Land use on largescale commercial farms area under cultivation in hectares 19701999 | 217 |
Appendix 3 Summary of major crop1 sales in Z millions 19701999 | 218 |
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acquisition African Alexander areas attack Barker became bought Buckle Catherine Buckle cent CFU president chapter Chennells claimed commercial farmers country’s coverage crisis death discourse discursive threshold discussed dissidents economic editorial election evicted farm labourers farm workers Farmer 29 Farmer magazine fast-track land reforms forces Gazaland Godwin and Hancock gook government's guerrilla Gukurahundi Harare Harrison hectares Human Rights NGO Ian Smith Ibid independence Interview with Farmer Jambanja Karoi killed land invasions land occupations land question Liberation maize Manicaland March Martin Olds Mashonaland Central Mashonaland West Masvingo Matabeleland McKenzie Melsetter MFP Trust million Moyo Mugabe Mugabe's murder Nyamandhlovu organisation Palmer Phimister political Raftopoulos referendum resettlement Rhodesian Farmer Rights NGO Forum RNFU Selby settlers Shamva situation Tengwe term threat tion tobacco Union veterans violence voice white farmers white farming community Wiles Winkfield ZANU-PF Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Human Rights Zimbabwe's Zimbabwean passport holder