Legislation and Educational Policy in Zimbabwe: The state and the reproduction of patriarchy

This paper discusses the inadequacies of modernisation theory of development, and of research informed by modernisation theory, in explaining the continuing exploitation and discrimination experienced by women in Zimbabwe. A historical overview of the role of the state in perpetuating and reproducing patriarchy in the colonial and neo-colonial periods is presented. The paper focuses on legislation and educational policy and practice as two of the major mechanisms by which the state has accommodated pre-colonial patriarchal structures and gender relations which have facilitated the continued domination and exploitation of women.