Essay ReviewRhodesia In the 1960s' «VG. C. KlnlochDepartment of Sociology, Florida State. UniversityRhodesian politics in the 1960s may beviewed as the articulation of European econo-mic interests in the form of white nationalism,reacting to changing British politics and risingAfrican political aspirations. A number ofevents were of central importance in this pro-cess: the 1961 Constitution, Rhodesian Frontvictories, dissolution of the Federation, Africanpolitical violence, the independence referendum,U.D.I., terrorist incursions, declaration of aRepublic and the negative findings of the PearceCommission during the early 1970s. Withinthis context, the Rhodesian Front partyemerged as the champion of colonial interests,dedicated to the perpetuation of political andeconomic dominance, as well as the furtherinstitutionalization of social segregation. Inshort, the central values of white Rhodesianculture (i.e., economic exploitation, politicaldominance, and social segregation) assumeda different political form in the face of chang-ing societal conditions which threatened thosevalues.In consequence, any formal analysis ofthis period requires a number of important in-gredients as follows: (1) it should deal withthe complexity of these events both externaland internal, in a manner which handles theirinteractive relationship in a longitudinal andprocess-oriented fashion; (2) it should attemptto account for these events rather than describethem chronologically; (3) drawing on thisanalysis, the writer should then be able to makepredictions concerning the possible course offuture Rhodesian politics; and (4) suggestpossible solutions to the present impasse. Ingenera], what is implied here is an analytical,process-oriented approach to Rhodesian society,focusing on its structural antecedents andpossible consequences within the context of in-ternal political, economic, and social forces andexternal pressures both in Africa and Europe. Itis with such ingredients in mind that we turnto a critical examination of recent studies ofthis period, assessing their contribution andimplications for further analysis.A number of works on the Rhodesiansituation have recently appeared, focusing onthe society's racist structure, factors within thatstructure, and the international context in whichit operates. We shall examine each type ofanalysis in turn.RHODESIA'S RACIST STRUCTUREMlambo's recent book was written 'in theattempt to correct the misrepresentation of theAfrican case on Rhodesia that has been goingon since 1890'.* The exclusion of Africans from* E. Mlambo, Rhodesia: The Struggle for a Birth-right, London, Hurst, 1972, 333 pp. £2,95; see p.vii.121political power, along with their paternalistictreatment in general, according to the author,has led to high levels of racial resentmentamong Africans, on the one hand, and whiteintransigence on the other. Mlambo proceedsto give an historical account of the factors be-hind the country's racist structure: its constitu-tional development, the land question, earlypressure groups, the Department of InternalAffairs, African education, African resistance,and the Rhodesian Front. He concludes thatthe 1971 settlement terms were based on Britishracial expediency and political misinformation,the franchise and educational proposals re-present 'escapism', while increasing internation-al and African pressure are rapidly bringingmatters to a head. His suggested solutions in-clude a change in British policy, free elections,modifications of the civil service towards inte-gration, the removal of racist laws, and thedevelopment of inter-racial courts. While notoffering any new historical insights into theRhodesian situation, Mlambo's work is usefulin so far as it takes a racial and colonialapproach, highlighting structural antecedentsand possible solutions of the 'race problems'as a whole.Zimbabwe Now is a similar reaction to the1971 proposals; the outcome of a seminar onRhodesia at Oxford in 1972, this small setof eight papers examines 'the social, economic,and political factors leading to the present stateof affairs' and suggests 'that the British Govern-ment should not be allowed to escape its res-ponsibility to the African people of Zimbabwevia the proposed settlement or any minoradaptations of it'.* Participants focus on thehistorical background to the 'ZimbabweProblem' (Atieno-Odhiambo and Chambati),its economic and political context in SouthernAfrica (Hall, Gervasi, and Nolutshungo), andthe negative implications of the 1971 settle-ment proposals (Palley, Moyo, Muzorewa andMlambo). In similar fashion to Mlambo, thiswork highlights the extent to which Rhodesiais a colonial-racist society in which political,economic and social dominance are heavilyinstitutionalized and will not be removed byimplementing the settlement proposals. Instead,the long-term racial and economic interests ofthe white elite would be served, moving Rho-desia in the direction of inevitable conflict andviolence.Both these works highlight the colonialhistory behind Rhodesia's racist structure, de-lineate the dimensions of that structure in somedepth, and suggest that the settlement pro-posals will not solve the basic problem it re-presents Š that of white dominance and Afri-can exclusion. In contrast, more structuralsolutions are required in order to de-institution-alize racism. While providing little in the wayof new historical data, these two books do serveto highlight the background and structure ofracial politics in Rhodesia, in a way that themore descriptive and non-racial accounts ofthe society's historical development, such asthose by L. H. Gann, fail to do. On the otherhand, they tend to neglect the internal com-plexity of these politics Š a topic we turn tonext.INTERNAL STRUCTUREHirsch's recent work, A Decade of Crisisis an important analysis of Rhodesian Frontpolitics between 1962 and 1972, which attempts'to assess the critical areas of the Rhodesianstory of the decade in adequate depth in orderto provide a clearer perspective for the stock-taking'.* Accordingly, he focuses on politicaland racial philosophies, the Constitution, Afri-can emergence, and the balance between racialconflict and co-operation. His thorough anduseful analysis highlights a number of keyelements: Rhodesian Front tactical errors bothin internal and external politics, British'blunders' in dealing with white Rhodesians,the failure of Rhodesian Front programmesdealing with African educational, economicand agricultural development, and the relativeheterogeneity of European and African opinionon racial politics. Rhodesian 'blunders' consistprimarily in political brinkmanship, misjudgingthe effects of U.D.I., a decline in constitutionalprotection, and lack of consultation with Afri-can leaders. The British, on the other hand,prejudged U.D.I., reinforced white backlash,* Zimbabwe Now, ed. S. E. Wilmer, London,R. Collings, 1973, 141 pp. £1,00; see p.ll.* M. I. Hircsh, A Decade of Crisis: Ten Years ofRhodesian Front Rule, Salisbury, P. Dearlove, 1973,186 pp. Rh$2,45.122and failed to provide for the minority's long-term future. Consequently, white mistrust ofBritain and African distrust of the RhodesianFront government resulted in the present'fiasco'. On the other hand, the Pearce opinionsurvey revealed a Jack of European homo-geneity regarding racial issues while Africansappeared concerned more with economic issuesthan immediate majority rule. In conclusion,Hirsch emphasizes the need for European'accommodation' to changes in the 'balance ofpower' between the races in the face of chang-ing demographic, educational, political, andeconomic conditions.While Hirsch's study may be criticised on anumber of points Š his view of the Africanas lacking 'sophistication and organization,tactics and strategy' in particular Š hisanalysis high-lights the degree to which Rho-desian-British politics are extremist anderror-prone in contrast to moderate and hetero-geneous opinion within the population at large.While extremist politics have become institu-tionalized, then opinion at other levels revealsgreater varety of thought but demands a newvehicle for expression. Such internal details areuseful in providing a more detailed and lesssimplistic view of Rhodesian politics, withgreater understanding of their oscillating inter-nal developments and discussion of widerranges of future alternatives. Rhodesia's inter-national context, however, plays a role in suchalternatives.INTERNATIONAL CONTEXTU.D.I, within the context of internationalpolitics has recently been described by Goodin a book written in reaction to 'notorious'American obliviousness to 'events in SouthernAfrica'.* Good draws on his experience asAmerican Ambassador to Zambia, 300 anony-mous interviews, details of which are totallylacking (and therefore cannot be evaluated),and reports in American, British, South Afri-can, and Rhodesian newspapers, as well asparliamentary and U.N. debates. The resultis a descriptive, journalistic account of thebackground and course of U.D.I., dealing with* R. C. Good, U.D.I.: The International Politicsof the Rhodesian Rebellion. London, Faber, 1973.368 pp. £4,95; see p.ll.pre-U.D.I. negotiations, the effects on Zambia,sanctions, post-U.D.I. negotiations, and thePearce Commission. Little real analysis is pro-vided, particularly in the international sphere,although Good emphasizes the historical in-dependence of Rhodesian Whites and the con-straints, both internal and external, on Britishpolicy. Otherwise, the reader is provided withjournalistic detail concerning the major per-sonalities and events of U.D.I, with a fewambivalent conclusions regarding the effective-ness of sanctions, the use of 'forceful inter-vention', as well as the eventual effects ofU.D.I. as a whole on Britain and the U.S.Unless the reader is concerned with descriptivedetail or political cartoons (there are a numberin the book) this work confirms Good's ownstatement that 'there are no adequate studiesof U.D.I, and its aftermath'. However, thebook's detail in itself emphasizes the need totake the interactive efforts of Rhodesian inter-national context into account, particularly inregard to the racial politics, both white andAfrican, within it.CONCLUSIONAt the begnning of this essay we delineateda number of ingredients as essential to theformal analysis of Rhodesia in the 1960s:adequate discussion of the complexity of events,their explanation, prediction, and possible solu-tion. Applying these criteria to recent works,it was evident that works on Rhodesia's raciststructure were useful in the delineation of thesociety's colonial history and present raciststructure. Hirsch's analysis of the internalfactors in Rhodesian politics was also relevantin its delineation of extremist Rhodesian FrontŠ British poltics and the heterogeneity ofinternal racial opinion. Thirdly, Good's book,while underlining the relevance of Rhodesia'sinternational context, was generally descriptiveand non-analytical.These works suggest a number of conclu-sions: (1) Rhodesia is a colonial society whosehistory is best understood in these terms;(2) its structure represents institutionalizedracism which will not be significantly alteredby the 1971 settlement proposals; (3) British-Rhodesian politics represent extreme politicalopinion in contrast to the heterogeneity of suchopinion within Rhodesia as a whole; while (4)the Rhodesian situation should be viewed within123its international context, in particular thosefactors constraining British policy. Considera-tion of these studies as a whole also highlightstheir specific limitations when each is viewedseparately. What is required, it would appear,is a multi-dimensional, process-oriented ap-proach to Rhodesian politics which would takea number of key elements into account in anongoing and interactive fashion, i.e., the inter-national context, particularly the influence ofthe O.A.U. and U.N., British policies and re-lated factors, Rhodesian Front policies, Rho-desia's racist structure, and the variety of in-ternal opinion. It is in regard to such a taskthat the works discussed here provide a usefulstarting-point.124