POLITICAL HISTORY OF ZAMBIA: FROM THE COLONIAL PERIOD TO THE THIRD REPUBLIC
ISBN: 9781592213085
$29.39
Utilizing a post-nationalist revisionist interpretation of the political processes and political developments, both for the colonial and post-colonial periods, Professor Phiri posits that contrary to the view held by many scholars that liberalism was a lost cause in Central Africa, and colonial Zambia in particular, there was actually a valuable contribution of multi-racial liberalism to the process of de-colonization of Zambia. The author examines the introduction of the one party state in Zambia and its role in the political history of the country and argues that the failure of multi-party politics during the First Republic, which lasted from independence in 1964 to December 1972, reflected the lack of preparedness during the colonial period for plural politics. The political machinery that was hurriedly put in place by the departing colonial officials was easily overlooked by African politicians who adopted the commandist styles usually used by colonial governors. The book notes, for example, that colonial rule was nothing but a clear manifestation of authoritarian dictatorship. In the context of Zambia, the regime was carefully called "one party participatory democracy.