Populism as Style, Autocracy as Practice: Political Performance in Contemporary Zimbabwe

Why do autocratic establishments attempt to generate popular legitimacy? Why are these attempts grandiose, expensive, performative and stylistic? Beyond cults of personality, how can we understand these be understood in light of populism?


For this project, I will research how autocratic power in Zimbabwe is sustained and legitimized through populist rhetoric and performance, focusing on political actors such as Emmerson Mnangagwa and Robert Mugabe. My central question is: how do populist styles and logics operate through political spectacle to construct legitimacy, shape public perception, and reinforce authoritarian rule?
Substantively, I will investigate how state-sponsored events, such as rallies, youth galas, and national celebrations like Independence Day (Zimbabwe), function as key sites of political communication. These events are not merely ceremonial; they are carefully orchestrated performances where political authority is dramatized. I will analyze elements such as speeches, slogans, music, choreography, dress, and visual symbolism to understand how “the people” are constructed and mobilized in these settings. I am particularly interested in how these performances invoke liberation history, nationalism, and anti-imperialist narratives to sustain ruling party legitimacy.

Theoretically, my research will be guided by Benjamin Moffitt’s concept of populism as a political style and Ernesto Laclau’s understanding of populism as a political logic. Moffitt’s work will help me analyse the performative and aesthetic dimensions of Zimbabwean politics; how crisis is staged, how leaders embody “the people,” and how media is used to circulate these performances. Laclau’s framework will allow me to examine how political frontiers are constructed, particularly how elites frame themselves against perceived enemies such as Western powers, opposition movements, or internal dissenters. By combining these approaches, I aim to show how style and logic work together to sustain autocratic governance.
Methodologically, I will use a qualitative, interpretive approach. First, I will conduct discourse analysis of speeches delivered at rallies and national events, identifying recurring themes, metaphors, and narratives. Second, I will carry out visual analysis of images and videos from these events, focusing on staging, crowd dynamics, and symbolic elements such as flags, uniforms, and iconography. Third, I will draw on secondary sources, academic literature, news reports, and archival material—to contextualise these performances historically and politically. Where possible, I will also compare different time periods (late Mugabe era vs. Mnangagwa era) to trace continuities and shifts in populist performance.

In terms of format, the final project will take the form of an interactive website that combines text, images, and video. The written component will present my core argument and theoretical framework, organized into thematic sections such as “Populism as Performance,” “Constructing the People,” and “Political Spectacle and Legitimacy.” Alongside this, I will embed curated images and video clips from rallies, galas, and Independence Day celebrations to provide visual evidence of the arguments I make. These multimedia elements will not be illustrative alone; they will be directly analyzed within the text to show how meaning is produced through performance.
The website format is intentional, as it mirrors the highly visual and mediated nature of populist politics itself. By integrating audiovisual material, I aim to create a more immersive and analytically rich project that captures the performative dimension of Zimbabwean politics. Ultimately, this project will demonstrate how autocracy is not only enforced through institutions and coercion, but also enacted, performed, and normalized through populist political style and spectacle.