Legislative Framework for Civil Society in Zimbabwe’s “Second Republic”: A Sociological Review

Abstract This study analysed the socio-legal framework for civil society in Zimbabwe in the changed context of the Second Republic. It exposes the continued reliance by the new government, dubbed the Second Republic, on laws that were used by the previous regime to silence civil society organisations. This is happening against the backdrop of promises made by the new President of the Republic, Emmerson Mnangagwa, to open up the democratic space and promote associational life. Where attempts have been made to repeal restrictive laws, new laws contain similar or even more restrictive provisions. Using qualitative data generation and collection compounded with the classical Gramscian theory of hegemony, the study argues that civil society-state relations in the Second Republic are characterised by the exerting of pressure and hegemonic power to influence political trajectories. The state-civil society relations represent a worsened state in the Second Republic underpinned by maintenance of restrictive laws.