Youth Political Socialization in Zimbabwe

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of youth political socialization in an authoritarian context, based on extensive field research in Zimbabwe. Focusing on urban youth, it examines how young Zimbabweans learn to navigate their political environment and respond to the pervasive influence of the ruling party, ZANU-PF. Drawing on political socialization theory, the book develops a framework tailored to authoritarian settings. It introduces the concept of “socialization experiences”^—^formative encounters with everyday manifestations of authoritarianism^—^and “sites of socialization,” referring to physical spaces where ruling party agents use a range of practices to shape political attitudes and encourage loyalty.Youth Political Socialization in Zimbabwe argues that exposure to authoritarianism begins early in life. Young people's socialization experiences include encounters with coercion, surveillance, patronage, and more subtle forms of political control. These are reinforced by families, peers, and institutions, which often promote caution and model risk-avoidant behaviour. As a result, many young people adopt “performative compliance”: a strategic display of public loyalty to the ruling party that masks private dissent. Urban markets emerge as key sites of socialization, where local-level ruling party agents and everyday interactions define acceptable political behaviour. In these spaces, young people learn not only to comply, but also when and how to perform compliance.Importantly, the book highlights variation among young people. While most engage in performative compliance, its extent and expression differ by gender and class. Some become “best performers,” actively participating in party structures while they are not genuine supporters. Others internalize compliant behaviours more deeply, and a small minority express genuine allegiance, often rooted in family ties to the ruling party. By centring youth experiences in an authoritarian African context, this book fills a significant gap in political socialization research and offers insights relevant to wider global trends of authoritarianism and democratic backsliding.Oxford Studies in African Politics and International Relations is a series for scholars and students working on African politics and International Relations and related disciplines. Volumes concentrate on contemporary developments in African political science, political economy, and International Relations, such as electoral politics, democratization, decentralization, gender and political representation, the political impact of natural resources, the dynamics and consequences of conflict, comparative political thought, and the nature of the continent's engagement with the East and West. Comparative and mixed methods work is particularly encouraged, as is interdisciplinary research and work that considers ethical issues relating to the study of Africa. Case studies are welcomed but should demonstrate the broader theoretical and empirical implications of the study and its wider relevance to contemporary debates. The focus of the series is on sub-Saharan Africa, although proposals that explain how the region engages with North Africa and other parts of the world are of interest.Series Editors: Nic Cheeseman (University of Birmingham), Peace Medie (University of Bristol), and Ricardo Soares de Oliveira (Sciences Po, Paris).