{"title":"津巴布韦城市民族主义的神话:经济危机中的现代性和特殊性叙事","authors":"Kristina Pikovskaia","doi":"10.1111/nana.13027","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Zimbabwe has distinct urban nationalist myths stemming from the colonial period—urban modernity and economic exceptionalism. The modernity myth has been constructed from the colonial period and came to be associated with urban order, lifestyle and social mobility. The economic exceptionalism myth refers to Zimbabwe's past exceptional economic performance during the colonial and early postcolonial periods. However, the economic crisis and informalisation from the late 1990s have challenged these myths as neither previous practices of urban modernity nor the feeling of exceptional economic performance is attainable any more. In this context, people in the informal sector reimagine what these nationalist myths mean to them. In particular, they engage in debates about which economic practices are modern enough to be implemented in urban areas, especially in the city centre, and how to identify themselves make a claim to urban modernity. The memory of economic exceptionalism in the meantime acts as a reference point in discussions about future national development. All these translate into the question of legitimacy—of the informal economy and its practices and the government that failed to uphold the modernity and exceptionalism myths.","PeriodicalId":47659,"journal":{"name":"Nations and Nationalism","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Myths of Zimbabwean urban nationalism: Narratives of modernity and exceptionalism in the economic crisis\",\"authors\":\"Kristina Pikovskaia\",\"doi\":\"10.1111/nana.13027\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"Zimbabwe has distinct urban nationalist myths stemming from the colonial period—urban modernity and economic exceptionalism. The modernity myth has been constructed from the colonial period and came to be associated with urban order, lifestyle and social mobility. The economic exceptionalism myth refers to Zimbabwe's past exceptional economic performance during the colonial and early postcolonial periods. However, the economic crisis and informalisation from the late 1990s have challenged these myths as neither previous practices of urban modernity nor the feeling of exceptional economic performance is attainable any more. In this context, people in the informal sector reimagine what these nationalist myths mean to them. In particular, they engage in debates about which economic practices are modern enough to be implemented in urban areas, especially in the city centre, and how to identify themselves make a claim to urban modernity. The memory of economic exceptionalism in the meantime acts as a reference point in discussions about future national development. All these translate into the question of legitimacy—of the informal economy and its practices and the government that failed to uphold the modernity and exceptionalism myths.\",\"PeriodicalId\":47659,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Nations and Nationalism\",\"volume\":null,\"pages\":null},\"PeriodicalIF\":1.5000,\"publicationDate\":\"2024-06-03\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Nations and Nationalism\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"90\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.13027\",\"RegionNum\":2,\"RegionCategory\":\"社会学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q2\",\"JCRName\":\"ETHNIC STUDIES\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Nations and Nationalism","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.13027","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ETHNIC STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
Myths of Zimbabwean urban nationalism: Narratives of modernity and exceptionalism in the economic crisis
Zimbabwe has distinct urban nationalist myths stemming from the colonial period—urban modernity and economic exceptionalism. The modernity myth has been constructed from the colonial period and came to be associated with urban order, lifestyle and social mobility. The economic exceptionalism myth refers to Zimbabwe's past exceptional economic performance during the colonial and early postcolonial periods. However, the economic crisis and informalisation from the late 1990s have challenged these myths as neither previous practices of urban modernity nor the feeling of exceptional economic performance is attainable any more. In this context, people in the informal sector reimagine what these nationalist myths mean to them. In particular, they engage in debates about which economic practices are modern enough to be implemented in urban areas, especially in the city centre, and how to identify themselves make a claim to urban modernity. The memory of economic exceptionalism in the meantime acts as a reference point in discussions about future national development. All these translate into the question of legitimacy—of the informal economy and its practices and the government that failed to uphold the modernity and exceptionalism myths.
期刊介绍:
Nationalism is one of the central issues of the modern world. Since the demise of the Soviet Union there has been a proliferation of nationalist and ethnic conflicts. The consequent explosion of interest in ethnicity and nationalism has created an urgent need for systematic study in this field. Nations and Nationalism aims to satisfy this need. As a scholarly, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary journal, it is designed to respond to the rapid growth of research in the study of nationalism and nationalist movements throughout the world.