School of Social and Political Science

Background

Qualifications

B. A. Economic History, University of Zimbabwe

M. A. African Economic History, University of Zimbabwe

M. Sc. African Studies, University of Oxford

D. Phil. History, University of Oxford

Biography

George studied Economic History at the University of Zimbabwe before doing an M. Sc. in African Studies as well as a doctorate in History at Oxford University.  Before coming to Edinburgh, George was a research fellow in the Centre of African Studies at the University of Cambridge.

One of George's key research interests is exploring the ways that law and legal struggles can be used to shed light on social and political processes in African history. His recent monograph entitled The Struggle over State Power in Zimbabwe: Law and Politics Since 1950, examines how law was deployed in the constitution and contestation of state power and legitimacy in Zimbabwe between 1950 and 2008.  He is currently writing up his Leverhulme Trust funded research project  that examines the history of the legal profession in Zimbabwe between 1950 and 2010.  It pays attention to lawyers' roles as legal intermediaries, public intellectuals, politicians, and ‘cultural entrepreneurs’.  In addition to treating legal professionals as important subjects in their own right, the project uses them as a prism through which to study the intersections between law, politics and society in Zimbabwe. George's second research interest is investigating the diverse ways that digital media is reshaping social, political and economic life in Africa. 

Books

Publics in Africa in a Digital Age, edited with Sharath Srinivasan and Stephanie Diepeveen, Routledge, (2021)

Pursuing Justice in Africa: Competing Imaginaries and Contested Practices, edited with Jessica Johnson, Ohio University Press, (2018).

The Struggle over State Power in Zimbabwe: Law and Politics since 1950, Cambridge University Press African Studies Series, (2017).

Special Issues

‘Part Issue: Law and Social Order in Africa’, edited with Sarah-Jane Cooper-Knock, Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 86, No. 1, (2016).

 ‘Special Issue – Juristes: Faiseurs d’Etat', edited with Sara Dezalay, Politique Africaine, Vol. 138, No. 2,  (2015).

Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Karekwaivanane G. H., Editorial, Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol 46, No. 4 (2020).

Karekwaivanane G. H., 'Zimbabwe:Legal Practitioners, Politics
and Transformation Since 1980' in Richard L Abel, Ole Hammerslev, Hilary
Sommerlad & Ulrike Schultz (eds) Lawyers in 21st Century Societies Vol 1, Hart Publishing, 2020.

Karekwaivanane G. H., Editorial, Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol 45, No. 5 (2019).

Karekwaivanane G. H. and Admire Mare, ‘“We are Not Just voters, we are citizens!”: Social Media, the #ThisFlag Campaign, and Insurgent Citizenship in Zimbabwe’, in T. Molony and M. Dwyer, (eds) Social Media and Politics in Africa: Democracy, Security and Surveillance, (Zed Press, 2019).

Karekwaivanane G. H. [with Sharath Srinivasan and Stephanie Diepeveen], ‘Introduction: Digital Publics in Africa’, Journal of East African Studies, Vol. 13, No. 1, (2019).

Karekwaivanane G. H., “Tapanduka Zvamuchese: ‘Unruly Publics’, Facebook and Zimbabwean Politics”, Journal of East African Studies, Vol. 13, No. 1, (2019).

‘Re-centering Justice in African Studies’, with Jessica Johnson, in J. Johnson and G. H. Karekwaivanane (eds), Pursuing Justice in Africa: Competing Imaginaries and Contested Practices, Ohio University Press, (2018).

‘Introduction: Law and Social Order in Africa’, with Sarah-Jane Cooper-Knock, Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 86, No. 1,  (2016).

‘“Through the Narrow Door”: Narratives of the First Generation of African Lawyers in Zimbabwe’, Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 86, No. 1, (2016).

‘Les juristes entre “Africanisation” et transition politique: transformations du champ juridique dans le Zimbabwe postcolonial, 1980-1995', Politique Africaine, Vol. 138, No. 2 (2015).

‘“It shall be the duty of every African to obey and comply promptly”: Negotiating State Authority in the Legal Arena, Rhodesia 1965-1980’, Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol. 37, No. 2, (2011).

Other Publications

'Fed up, unafraid, and just getting started: What Zimbabwe's #ThisFlag must do now', African Arguments Politics Now Blog Series, (2016).

'The Past as Prologue': Re-examining the Role of Law in Zimbabwean Politics Since 2000', University of Durham Centre for Contemporary African History Blog Series, (2016).

Review of B. Ibhawoh, Imperial Justice: Africans in Empire’s, Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth Studies, Vol. 43, No. 2, (2015).

Zimbabwe Civil Society Millennium Development Goals Report 2006, with Karenga K., Masuko L., and Anyona N. K., National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations – Zimbabwe, (2007).

“Taking Stock of the Humanitarian Response to Operation Murambatsvina,” NGO Alert, February-March, (2007).