Conflict and the resolution process in Zimbabwe from 2000 to 2013

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dc.contributor.authorMutambudzi, Anywhere
dc.date.accessioned2016-12-21T12:56:16Z
dc.date.available2016-12-21T12:56:16Z
dc.date.issued2016
dc.descriptionA thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2015en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe timing of conflict resolution efforts is important in identifying when an intervention is likely to succeed according to ripeness of conflicts theory (Zartman, 1985). Although the ripeness theory appears to be a great contribution to the conflict resolution doctrine, there is no scholarly consensus on its plausibility with criticisms that are centred on: a contest on the variables that should help in its identification; low predictability; lack of cross-case generalisations; and, methodological weaknesses inherited from rational and public choice theories. The study took the position that conditions creating ripeness should be expanded beyond what is currently obtaining in literature, can help in determining the formula for resolution and indicate what to do in the implementation of the agreement so reached. To interrogate the theory’s plausibility, interpretivism was used to gather evidence from the case - the conflict that prevailed in Zimbabwe from 2000 to 2013 - to extrapolate implications for the ripeness theory and suggest improvements through paradigm complementarity. Although the external dimension of the conflict in Zimbabwe remained unaffected, ripeness was found in its domestic setting deriving from the indecisive/disputed elections of 2008 and the threat of a failed economy that triggered a Southern African Development Community intervention and offered a cue to the formula for resolution - the Global Political Agreement. Shared political legitimacy in the Global Political Agreement however saw that ripeness diminishing and it had vanished by 2013, although the conflict which by 2013 was yet to realise complete resolution, was to a large extent transformed to lower levels of hostilities with dysfunctionality temporarily arrested. Ripeness proved to be a product of both perceptual and structural variables that change in intensity over time, thus affecting the implementation of agreements that arise from ripeness. The study proved that ripeness theory in its expanded form is a viable strategic tool in conflict resolution, though success as in military doctrine depends on the accurate identification of the variables creating ripeness, timely intervention and a fitting operational plan to effectively exploit the opportunities so created.en_ZA
dc.description.librarianMB2016en_ZA
dc.format.extentOnline resource (xi, 292 leaves)
dc.identifier.citationMutambudzi, Anywhere (2016) Conflict and the resolution process in Zimbabwe from 2000 to 2013, University of the Witwatersrand, <http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/21572>
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10539/21572
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshConflict management--Zimbabwe
dc.subject.lcshPolitical violence--Zimbabwe
dc.subject.lcshZimbabwe--Politics and government
dc.titleConflict and the resolution process in Zimbabwe from 2000 to 2013en_ZA
dc.typeThesisen_ZA
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