The Contours of Capitalism in Zimbabwe’s Political Economy: Colonial Legacies, State Experiments, and Informal Futures

Abstract

This study, set out to interrogate the evolution of capitalism in Zimbabwe as both an economic system and a political-social order, tracing its trajectory from colonial imposition to post-independence experimentation, neoliberal restructuring, and contemporary informalization. The central problem addressed is that capitalism in Zimbabwe has been fractured, contested, and marked by exclusion, with colonial racial capitalism entrenching dispossession and coercive labour, post-independence statist capitalism promising redistribution but constrained by inefficiency and elite capture, and neoliberal reforms deepening inequality while dismantling social safety nets. The objectives were fourfold: to examine capitalist development during the settler-colonial period (1890–1980), to analyse state-led capitalist experimentation (1980–1990), to explore contemporary informal capitalism (2000–present), and to investigate how ordinary Zimbabweans navigated these transitions. The theoretical framework integrated Dependency Theory (Frank, Amin, Rodney) to explain external domination and structural underdevelopment, and Peripheral Capitalism Theory (Cardoso and Faletto) to capture post-independence contradictions, elite capture, and citizen agency, thereby situating Zimbabwe within broader debates on dependency and peripheral capitalism. Methodologically, the study adopted a pragmatic orientation and explanatory case study design, combining document analysis and semi-structured interviews with key informants from government, academia, labour, civil society, and media, analysed through thematic clustering and triangulation. The overall conclusion is that Zimbabwe’s capitalist trajectory has unfolded through disjointed transitions; settler racial capitalism, statist bureaucratic capitalism, neoliberal restructuring, and informal survivalism, each marked by structural inequality, elite entrenchment, and grassroots improvisation, demonstrating that capitalism in Zimbabwe is both imposed and negotiated, reproducing dependency while generating spaces of resilience and adaptation. Recommendations emphasize the need for inclusive planning, recognition of informal economies, equitable resource distribution, and stronger partnerships between government, civil society, and communities, so that grassroots innovation and citizen agency can be harnessed to complement national development strategies and foster a more just, participatory, and sustainable economic future.