Politics of collection building as a hindrance to archiving liberation struggle ‘archives’ at the national archives of Zimbabwe

Abstract

The archiving of armed struggle heritage in Zimbabwe is marred by complexities rooted in archivists’ biases and in social and political factors that shape archival collections. The liberation struggle archives created by the nationalist movements are not available at the NAZ, more than forty-four years after independence. The article critiques the Zimbabwe archive as a site of power by assessing the politics that dictate the archiving of armed struggle collections. Interviews and document analysis conducted at the National Archives of Zimbabwe (NAZ) sought to address the key question of how armed struggle archives of the former nationalist movements in Zimbabwe have been preserved, organized, catalogued, and made available to the public. The findings of the study reveal that the gaps in armed struggle collections at the NAZ emanate from outdated archival legislation, and a lack of trust in the archival system, including the power play that has affected access to this heritage. The researchers recommend that a decolonial archival praxis be adopted at the NAZ by embracing a post-custodial approach to archiving liberation struggle archives.