The Power Shift: Decolonising Development

Putting Africa-centric development into practice. Leslie Mudimu interviewed.

• Kate Bird • Season 1 • Episode 38

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In this week’s episode, we talk to Leslie Mudimu, a participant from Cohort 2 of our Skill Share Programme on Decolonising Development. We discuss what Afrocentric development could look like, and how decolonisation and localisation is perceived and understood in the African academic context.

Leslie speaks about her experience as a Zimbabwean academic studying in South Africa, and the mobilisation that occurred around the Rhodes Must Fall movement. We speak about how the decolonising call for transformation has been taken up in the African continent, and how the localisation agenda can be implemented.

Driven by a passion to understand and find solutions to Africa's developmental issues, Leslie is a Development and Systems Change Consultant. She has a multi-disciplinary background in the Humanities, particularly the Social Sciences, which enables her understanding of complex social problems. Her academic research was on the inclusion of women in transitional processes and governance in Zimbabwe. Her expertise is aligned with decolonisation and transformation efforts and the representation and inclusion of women. Beyond working in the international development space, Leslie is a Founder of a mentorship network for Humanities students in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

If you’re interested to find out more about Leslie’s work, take a look here:

Recent work:

Relevant resources:

Kate:

Welcome to the Power Shift Decolonising Development, the podcast series seeking to bring together thinkers, practitioners, and activists to share ideas, inspire change, and identify tools for practical action. I'm Professor Kate Bird, a socio economist and the director of the Development Hub. Today's co host is Dr. Nompilo Ndlovu. Over to you, Nompilo.

Nompilo:

Greetings. I'm Dr. Nompilo Ndlovu.. I'm a Zimbabwean living and working in South Africa. I'm an oral historian who applies gender frameworks to my work with communities in Africa. Recent work has included involvement in a mixed method study on poverty dynamics in Zimbabwe, where I led the work on gender and marginalisation. My PhD focused on mass violence, memory, and local transitional justice in post colonial Zimbabwe. Back to you, Kate.

Kate:

Thank you, Nompilo. Today we're very excited to be talking to Leslie Mudimu. Leslie is a development and systems change consultant. She has a multidisciplinary background in humanities, particularly the social sciences. Her academic research was on the inclusion of women in transitional processes and governance in Zimbabwe. Her expertise is aligned with decolonisation and transformation efforts and the representation and inclusion of women. Beyond working in international development space, Leslie is a founder of a mentorship network for humanities students in Zimbabwe and South Africa. For more on Leslie and her work, click on the show notes below this episode. Back to you Nompilo. Okay,

Nompilo:

let's get into our questions. Leslie, as a fellow Zimbabwean, could you tell me how your experience of growing up and your experience as a student have influenced you in terms of understanding coloniality and the need to decolonise?

Leslie:

Great. Thank you again for having me today. And to answer your question, you know, growing up around the liberation struggle rhetoric in Zimbabwe exposed myself and fellow Zimbabweans to some of the atrocities that came with the colonial regime, not only in our country, but also on the continent. And that almost created a foundation of understanding the ideas around coloniality and the need to decolonise. Secondly, I'm sure you can recall our former president, Robert Mugabe, had a very anti colonial stance that really influenced the country's foreign policy approach. You know, examples include really in your face conversations with the British government, for example, so growing up around that really created an understanding of some of the atrocities of the colonial regime and also kind of how the regime also tries to continue within independent states, you know, through neocolonial ties. So I think that created a foundation to sort of understanding the place of Zimbabwe in its colonial history and also in relation to other countries on the continent. And I would say that in school as well as a student, I was a history student and I had exposure to African history. The high school I went to where I did my A levels was one of the few schools in Zimbabwe that offered the African history curriculum at A level. And that is the one that I did. And that African history to this day, I'm so grateful for that opportunity because it really opened my eyes and expanded my knowledge on not only pre colonial Africa, but also providing me an idea of what it is that colonialism had disrupted in terms of African led development. And also understanding the similarities and difference, you know, whether it's East Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa. And then I think because of that foundation, it motivated how I profited my degree because I still continued with history even in varsity. And when I moved to university, where I did my undergrad at University of Cape Town, I continued to study history in combination with Politics and international relations. And that allowed me to also now start seeing the influence of neo colonialism in global politics, in conflict, and even in things like international political economies. And I think because of that, as a student, I made an intentional effort to always do research on African countries. So a lot of my assignments, a lot of my coursework, I would always choose African case studies because I really wanted to expand my knowledge, especially on my continent. But I think that history created the foundation of my understanding of decolonisation.

Nompilo:

All right. Okay. Can we move on to the next question? As a student, and I remember this quite well because we're at UCT at the same time, you're an active student leader engaging with the Rhodes Must Fall and the Fees Must Fall movements. From your perspective as an international student, can you tell our audience a little bit about those experiences and how they framed your thinking about decolonisation?

Leslie:

Sure. This was a very interesting experience because what it highlighted for me was the difference in how the decolonisation rhetoric had always been present for me as a Zimbabwean and how it was so different within the South African context. And in participating within, you know, the Rhodes Must Fall movement and Fees Must Fall, I had to exercise a lot of grace and understanding that apartheid was so recent for my peers, and a lot of the people that I was in the same stream with, were the first generation of graduates in their families. And for them, the call for transformation was much deeper. And I think the important thing at the time was bridging that experience and getting my fellow Zimbabweans as well to understand why the decolonisation call was important and how we could show solidarity in a meaningful way. So at the time when those movements started, I was the vice president of the Zimbabwean Students Society, and part of our negotiated inclusion or participation within those movements involved ensuring that on a legal perspective when it comes to immigration and all the legal frameworks that guide us being in the country as students were protected. So I recall like in 2016, we were engaging with the then Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba. And we negotiated for Home Affairs to provide us waivers to cover any legalities around potentially deferring exams, potentially deferring the year. And once that area of anxiety for international students was catered for, it meant we were able to fully participate in the movement, and really be there showing solidarity and it made it easier for us. And I think I was also privileged enough to be close to the movement, especially in the classrooms, because one of the main things of the Rhodes Must Fall movement was not only around renaming buildings and bringing down the Cecil John Rhodes statue, it was also about transforming the curriculum and having a more decolonised curriculum. And I say I was privileged because in 2016, I was sitting in classes where I was being taught by Black academics who were also very committed to that call, you know, for example, our class was the first class that did the piloted course called Politics of Africa and the Global South. And that course was focused on learning about African political philosophers, African political theories, and also the important figures that are not well known in the mainstream space. And I think that was really important for us. It felt like it came a little too late because this was only in my third year in the university. And now we're starting to learn about these things. But I really think participating in Rhodes Must Fall and also subsequently Fees Must Fall really radicalised me in a meaningful way. And now I often feel like I now have the knowledge to actually back up the attachment to decolonisation and even the transformation, because we were there when we were putting universities to task and asking them to transform and be more inclusive for people of color.

Nompilo:

Thank you for that. You're a young professional, so quite still at the beginning of your professional life, can you tell me how you think your generation thinks of decolonisation differently from all the generations?

Leslie:

That's a very interesting question. And I think there are different ways to answer that, but as I was thinking through it, I think it firstly depends on which spaces we are thinking about. I think in the academic space, for us, decolonisation has meant contributing to the production of knowledge around our communities and societies, producing our own theories, countering white dominant ideologies. And I think that's really what's been important, especially in the academic space. And it also has meant real commitment to intersectionality, the intersectional issues that we deal with as people of color, you know, whether it's in relation to race, gender, and also, even socioeconomic positioning within our societies. But there's also another way that I think strongly advocates, and this is more, more relatable to the South African context, another way that strongly advocates for land ownership, land rights, and the contrasting difference is it's my peers who are calling for that within the South African context, whereas for us in Zimbabwe, maybe our grandparents, you know, or parents, depending on what age you are, are the ones who are calling for that change, right? And then there's also the other school of thought that speaks about decolonisation from the perspective of the open border policy, you know, thinking around pan Africanism, removing colonial borders. However, this also has not been so well received. I mean, we see with the responses to the EFF's open border policies that really continuously get misinterpreted but there's also another way that sees decolonisation manifesting in that way. You then also come into the international development space or the former workspaces where people are calling for meaningful representation of people of color, people are calling for intersectionality and understanding, even developing policies that affect, for example, same sex couples, different dynamics and context. So I don't think there's quite different thinkings around decolonisation per se, but it may be different asks that meet the current needs that we have. We're talking about opportunities, access to land, property rights, freedom of movement, migration and borders. So I think that kind of speaks to the extent to which we're interested in driving the change that we're pursuing.

Nompilo:

Nothing more on my end. Over to you, Kate.

Kate:

Thank you Nompilo. Leslie, I'm finding this a fascinating conversation and it's great to hear you and Nompilo speaking with each other about these issues. I really enjoyed your participation in cohort two of our Skill Share programme. You were a very lively contributor. You had a lot to contribute in the group sessions in particular. Can you tell us a little bit about your experience of the Development Hub Skill Share programme on decolonising development. What was your experience of the programme as a whole, and what do you think you got from it, particularly considering this deep understanding of the colonial experience that you have, both from growing up in Zimbabwe and then of your experience as a student and beyond in your work in the development sector?

Leslie:

Thanks for the question, Kate. So firstly, I really feel very honored to have had the opportunity to be part of the programme because it really came at a time where I could say I was in a bit of a crossroads when it comes to my young career and had the experience of what I had seen within doing the decolonisation or within the international development system. So, as I've mentioned previously, given that background of decolonisation and transformation, the shift in the development sector is something that really excites me. But it has also come with some disappointments, especially around the extent to which people are really willing to change or approach the systems. So firstly, my experience within the course felt very meaningful because what really stood out for me is that the course is designed to not shy away from tackling that issue of the necessary personal transformation that is required to drive meaningful change and to drive decolonisation. And because of that, it's really allowed me to really think through some of the processes I've been a part of, and also realising or checking myself as well, how willing am I to transform, how willing am I to let go of power in certain spaces where I do have, I always give this example that, within the Zimbabwean context, there's a particular power that I yield as a Shona woman, coming from a majority tribe in the country, yet that power is not the same in certain contexts. And I've had to be really conscious of my different identities. So in the course, you introduced us to the intersectionality wheel, which I really like because it forces us to rethink where are we placed? What is our proximity to power and also that proximity in different contexts. And I think that's a lot of self reflection that is necessary. So that course really offered not only the tools, but also resources to deepen that experience. And in terms of even participation in the groups, I felt like I learned a lot from people's experiences. And I also found solace in seeing that the experiences I had encountered already trying to do this work were not isolated events. In fact, they were symptoms of a system that everyone else is experiencing. So it felt like community, like, wow, you've also experienced this in the different space you're in. I thought it was just me, you know. So I think what I got out of the programme really was comfort in understanding that, okay, these are similar experiences, which means that there's a systemic thing that needs to be addressed here. But also it's really renewed my energy to develop not only my expertise, but also develop to contribute very meaningfully in decolonisation in the development system.

Kate:

That's so great to hear. I was speaking to another participant from Cohort 2 the other day, and they recounted that they had actually found the course to be a healing experience for them, because of just what you've said about feeling that they weren't alone in having experienced the racism and the microaggressions that they've experienced working within the development sector, and I thought that was really lovely actually to hear that they'd had that positive experience. And I know that you've stayed in touch with some of the participants from the programme and in fact that you're going to be speaking at an event for Light of the World very shortly. So that's lovely that you are supporting each other in your professional work going forwards. So Leslie, the discourse around decolonising development is in danger of being captured or dominated by minority world actors. What is your vision for an Africa centric form of development with majority world actors in the driving seat?

Leslie:

I love that question because it really speaks to work that I was more recently doing especially in the last year. So I think an Afrocentric development would look like Majority world actors being the ones doing the development work on the ground, either as the project lead, project managers, and also working in collaboration with international stakeholders, but being in the driving seat, it would mean the other ones designing the monitoring and evaluation frameworks, deciding the ideal indicators to track whatever projects that they're developing. And it would also mean being given the resources to achieve their work and also being trusted with those resources. I quite like the term trust based philanthropy, which is a quite common term within the space where it's about building trustful relationships from the philanthropies or the sources of funding and the people who do the work on the ground. And I think what the minority world has done is identify specific actors in the development space who they work with consistently, but unfortunately, this has resulted in the neglect of other actors who are also doing the work and getting meaningful results, even if it's in a niche community, but they know those communities very well because they are on the ground doing that work over time. So then what then happens is those identified African development partners, the much larger organisations, have, in some instances, become gatekeepers and taken an almost authoritative role in how they engage with smaller organisations, and I think it has recreated the strange relationship that we have seen some international NGOs having with majority world organisations. So part of the issues that are being raised are that smaller organisations do not have the capacity in terms of even financial management of larger resources, yet there are also unexplored opportunities for the bigger, more established organisations to have mutually beneficial relationships with those smaller organisations. So I think once we address that, we can really redefine an Afrocentric development. You know, I quite love the localisation movement. And I think while it has been successful in some cases, I think the lessons that have been learned from trying to implement the localisation framework can be useful in restructuring how Africa centric development could look like.

Kate:

Thank you so much. That's really interesting. And I love the way that you've contextualised efforts to localise within that broader decolonisation agenda and drive for Africa centric development. Thank you for that. So, thank you, Leslie, for coming onto the podcast and sharing your ideas with us today. To finish up, can you please identify a practical first step that our listeners and viewers can take in terms of contributing to decolonisation and shifting power?

Leslie:

Absolutely. So, I think a practical first step would be to look inwardly and to really address personal capacity to be a contributor to meaningful change, and I think questioning ourselves or asking ourselves those questions allows us to really frame our participation and really ask ourselves those tough questions. I know in the course, there's a component where we speak about white saviorism. We speak about even colorism, because I think what also is happening is that as people of color, we have somewhat evaded a bit of responsibility of the change we need to pursue on a personal level and how colonisation has manifested in things like colorism and how we treat each other depending on what spectrum we fall on as people of color. So that's the first step. And the Australian Council of International Development actually produced a toolkit for development practitioners that looked at the questions that white and BIPOC development practitioners need to ask themselves. And they offer some reflective questions at an individual organisational and systemic level. And I think this toolkit is something that's quite useful and can be used in different contexts and also contextualised further depending on where the organisation is placed. Secondly, I think real commitment is needed from those in leadership in organisations. If there's no commitment or meaningful buy in from them, whatever decolonisation efforts are being steered by staff members or middle management are not going to be fruitful. So that buy in is necessary. And that buy in and commitment also is linked to leadership being included in the journey towards the personal transformation. And I think lastly, for organisations in the majority world, it is so important to put effort and energy into building ecosystems that are mutually beneficial in. I recently was doing some work where I was trying to map some of the organisations that are working on decolonisation issues, especially on localisation issues. And you'll find with so many organisations in one space doing the same thing, and there's opportunities to collaborate, opportunities to work together and build an ecosystem. But I think for that to also meaningfully happen, there's an important need for Majority World organisations to also tackle some of the issues that are related to why they compete for resources and see why there's more opportunity in actually working together as opposed to competing for the resources from the international community and wanting to be the only organisation that's the go to partner for the larger organisations. So I think those three key things would be quite useful as practical next steps.

Kate:

Thank you very much, Leslie, and we'll link to the document that you were referring to there in our show notes. So if you're interested in finding out more about that, please do look in the show notes. Nompilo, have you got any last words to share?

Nompilo:

None whatsoever. Only wonderful to see you growing in great and mighty ways, Leslie. And my best wishes.

Leslie:

Thank you, Nompilo.

Kate:

And thank you, Leslie, from me as well. It's been great seeing you again and hearing about your work and your ideas and how you came to this point in your career as well. So thank you very much and goodbye from us.