ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the extent to which Zimbabwe's experience can be considered unique, as it underwent a process of deindustrialization and reagrarianization, or is potentially also representative of broader political dynamics at play in the Southern African region. It argues that despite the sometimes different logics and impetuses of the land tenure reforms in Zimbabwe from elsewhere in the continent, that they also share some common underlying bio political motivations a politics of bodies, as well as bellies'. Also Zimbabwe's land reform arguably shares other similarities with elsewhere on the continent given the extent of land grabbing by domestic elites; often unremarked in the international media. The chapter also argues that these trends across different African contexts are reflective of the ongoing tension between accumulation and strategies of rule combining legitimating with insecurity. It is worthwhile examining the broader drivers of recent large-scale land acquisitions in Africa in order to reflect on their similarities and differences.
