The book provides empirically-rich case studies of the lives and livelihoods of marginalised ethnic minorities in colonial and post-colonial Zimbabwe, with a specific focus on diverse rural areas. It demonstrates the dynamic and complex relationships existing between ethnic minorities and livelihoods, and analyses the ways in which projects of belonging (and identity-formation) amongst these ethnic minorities are entangled in their respective livelihood construction projects, and vice versa. The ethnic minorities include those considered indigenous to Zimbabwe, and those often defined as ‘aliens’, including ethnicities with a transnational presence in southern Africa. The ethnicities studied in the book include the following: Chewa, Doma, Tonga, Tshwa San, Shangane, Basotho, Ndau, Hlengwe and Nambya. By studying their livelihoods in particular, this book offers the first full manuscript about ethnic minorities in Zimbabwe. In doing so, it highlights the significance of these ethnic minorities to Zimbabwean history, politics and society.

Joshua Matanzima is a PhD candidate in Anthropology, at La Trobe University, Australia. He is a member of the Gwembe Tonga Research Project founded in 1956. He holds a BA honours degree in History from the University of Zimbabwe and a MA degree in Anthropology from Rhodes University. His research interests include anthropology of landscapes, human-wildlife conflicts and borderland economics with special emphasis on the Zambezi Valley. He has published a book chapter, several journal articles and book reviews in accredited international journals. Kirk Helliker is a Research Professor in the Department of Sociology at Rhodes University in South Africa, where he also heads the Unit of Zimbabwean Studies, which he founded in 2015. He publishes widely on Zimbabwean society and also supervises a significant number of PhD and MA students, mostly on Zimbabwean topics.