Contesting Centralism: Revisiting Urban Resistance and the Making of a ‘Rebel City’ in Zimbabwe
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64423/arpa.v34i2.116Keywords:
Rebel Cities, Centralisation, Intergovernmental Conflicts, Devolution, Bulawayo City CouncilAbstract
Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has largely resisted the national government’s pursuit of an exclusionary centralist ideology and unfettered ministerial discretion in local affairs. The legislative framework, particularly after independence, is anchored in decentralization; however, the central government has often issued directives that run counter to the law, thereby entrenching centralism. This study situates BCC within the context of rebel cities, analyzing the strategies the city has employed to avoid central government domination, the challenges it has faced, and key lessons for other local authorities. The study adopts a qualitative case study approach to analyze the power dynamics on (1) the contested nationalization of water distribution by Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA), (2) the appointment of special interest councillors by the central government, (3) the ownership dispute over the Bulawayo Power Station, and (4) the refusal of government- mandated street name changes. Using these cases, this study unpacks the strategies, legal, political, and symbolic defiance, employed by BCC in rebelling against the central government. The study, therefore, develops an institutionalized conceptualization of a rebel city that is significant in explaining how cities can become avenues of sustained resistance to central government. The recurring pattern of institutional resistance by BCC through organized legislative, political, administrative, and symbolic strategies provides the empirical basis for regarding it as a rebel city. In this light, the study extends the concept of a rebel city, which tends to emphasize social movements, class struggle, and resistance to capitalism, to encompass institutionalized local government or municipal resistance to central government’s intervention. The case study of BCC highlights the broader challenges of achieving effective decentralization in a context marked by state centralism, offering insight into the complexities of transformative urban politics.
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