This book challenges the Western interpretation that poor governance under President Mugabe is the sole cause of the Zimbabwean crisis. Inherited and highly unequal colonial structures, particularly as applied to land, and the impoverishing impact of an IMF and World Bank conditionally sponsored Structural Adjustment Program [SAP] are
considered primarily responsible. Previously, the Government managed to balance the peasant capitalist order without comprehensive land redistribution through state controls on prices, wages, finance and trade. Economic liberalization under the SAP, however, exposed the failure of a skewed market to meet majority basic needs, which underpins the current chaos over land. Instead of isolating the country, Western states should help Zimbabwe resolve the land question, which is more likely to secure a democratic and prosperous future.
