ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book draws on soldiers who, since 1980, had joined the Zimbabwe National Army and so served in post-independence Zimbabwe and deserted the army in post-2000. It argues that soldiers should not only simplistically be viewed as perpetrators but also as victims of barrack and state violence. The book analyses the political and economic conditions through which soldiers were made to live just like any of the people in Zimbabwe. It presents how soldiers were trained. The book shows that the relationship between soldiers and the state is made through military training. It explores the everyday victimisation of soldiers in the army barracks. The book examines the ways in which the military infringes the social and political rights of soldiers.
