Decolonisation, Identity And Nation In Rhodesia, 1964-1979: A Race Against Time

Description

This book explores concepts of decolonisation, identity, and nation in the white settler society of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) between 1964 and 1979. It considers how white settlers used the past to make claims of authority in the present. It investigates the white Rhodesian state’s attempts to assert its independence from Britain and develop a Rhodesian national identity by changing Rhodesia’s old colonial symbols, and examines how the meaning of these national symbols changed over time. Finally, the book offers insights into the role of race in Rhodesian national identity, showing how portrayals of a ‘timeless’ black population were highly dependent upon circumstance and reflective of white settler anxieties. Using a comparative approach, the book shows parallels between Rhodesia and other settler societies, as well as other post-colonial nation-states and even metropoles, as themes and narratives of decolonisation travelled around the world. Front Matter ....Pages i-xiii Introduction (David Kenrick)....Pages 1-26 White Rhodesian Society ca.1950s–1980s (David Kenrick)....Pages 27-59 Blood and Referendums: Nationalist History and the Case for a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (David Kenrick)....Pages 61-86 These Colours Don’t Fade: Changing Rhodesia’s Flag, 1967–1968 (David Kenrick)....Pages 87-127 Sovereign Independence? Rhodesians and the Monarchy, 1965–1970 (David Kenrick)....Pages 129-173 ‘The Last Word in Rhodesian’: Visions of the Nation in White Rhodesian Music (David Kenrick)....Pages 175-207 ‘Now as Then’? Race, Remembrance and the Rhodesian Nation in the 1970s (David Kenrick)....Pages 209-240 Conclusion: The Strange Afterlife of Rebel Rhodesia (David Kenrick)....Pages 241-250 Back Matter ....Pages 251-281