Understanding the Position of the State in Processes of Accumulation: Exploring the Tensions Between Land Reform and Biofuels in Zimbabwe

This paper is a study of the state-capital-society relationship in an effort to unpack the most actor in development. The rapid expansion of capital over the last decade with a growing presence in the agrarian sector has been a focus of several studies. The pervasiveness of land grabbing has led many to theorize on the state-capital alliance, but the tensions in Zimbabwe provide a unique site for analysis. The Chisumbaje Green Fuel project was sanctioned 9 years after the largest state led land reform process in sub-Saharan Africa had commenced. The evident tensions in policies between the land reform and the allocation of 45,000ha of land to a single enterprise provide a site for in depth analysis on whether the state is truly an instrument of capital or if it can serve the interests of the poor peasant classes as well. The class conflict over land and property has strong historical roots and by critically analysis the evidence as well as the discourse of land reform and land grabbing, a deeper understanding of the position of the state can be found. The framework of state theory of a strategic paradigm that allows the discussion to not only engage with the material issues but also engage the ideational debates in an effort to contribute to the body of literature on land reform and biofuel exploration, and also to stimulate further discussions on the state. This paper will question some of the dominant assumptions and positions that make arguments without a critical consideration of the role and position of the state. Such uncomplicated analysis can therefore lead to misleading hypothesis that then obfuscate the real issues by omission. Using the strategic relational approach and the Gramcian concept of hegemony, this paper will attempt to problematize and unpack the dominant perception of the state project to show that though accumulation is a permanent interest of the state, the interest of capital and the lower classes are not mutually exclusive. The assumption that in pursuing one, the other is abrogated is problematic and this thesis will challenge and examine this view to present a more assiduous analytic lens. Though it is an attempt to answer the question of whether the state can pursue both interests simultaneously, this paper does not presume to categorically answer the question, but rather it is an effort to contribute an alternative perspective on understanding the state that may provide a richer insight into the ultimate answer.