This book captures Zimbabwe's economic and social history with a focus on the various colonial categories as they interacted and unfolded. It analyses the complex histories of colonialism by illustrating the points of intersection in and interaction of the various aspects of colonialism. Chapters within the book demonstrate how various aspects of colonial society — environmental, ideological, and economic — related to each other.

This book departs from earlier similar publications in how various themes or elements in society were interwoven. Existing titles in this area tend to isolate a single theme, such as environmental or women’s history, from other categories. In reality, colonial spaces, however, did not exist in isolation. The social, economic, political, ideological and environmental factors, for instance, were intricately interconnected. The book includes topics such as health infrastructure and urbanization in Southern Rhodesia, encounters between plastic manufacturing industries and the Customs Union, the development and maintenance of Rhodesia’s road infrastructure, livestock diseases, the conversion of indigenous lands into wildlife sanctuaries, and the brutalization of workers.

An economic historian of Africa and empire, Dr. Bernard Kusena is a Research Fellow with the University of the Free State, South Africa, in the Department of History. His research interests are in the areas of food security, rural development and the intersection of law with the broader fields of identity and belonging. He holds a PhD (History) (Rhodes), an MA (African Economic History), LLM (International Law), BA (Hons) (Economic History), LLB (Hons), Dip. Ed., and Certificate in Monitoring and Evaluation, all from the University of Zimbabwe).

Dr. Nathaniel Chimhete is a Senior Lecturer in Economic History in the Department of History Heritage and Knowledge Systems at the University of Zimbabwe. His area of specialty is mining, environmental, and urban history. He has published extensively in these areas. He holds a PhD (History) (IOWA, USA), MA (African Economic History) (University of Zimbabwe), BA (Hons) (University of Zimbabwe, and a Diploma in Education (University of Zimbabwe).

Dr. Takesure Taringana is an economic historian and lecturer in the Department of History Heritage and Knowledge Systems at the University of Zimbabwe.  Takesure has a sharp interest in conversations on agricultural commodities production and economic development in Africa as informed by an increasingly globalising world. In particular, he engages debates on peasant flexibilities, and the opportunities and risks globalisation in African agrarian development offers. Among his publications is The Global Coffee Paradox and Coffee Marketing in Zimbabwe; 1980-2015.