ODID DPhil Student Susanne Verheul Wins 2014 Terence Ranger Prize for JSAS Article
ODID DPhil student Susanne Verheul has won the annual Terence Ranger Prize, a £1,500 prize awarded by the Journal of Southern African Studies for the best article by an author who has not previously been published in the journal.
Susanne was awarded the prize for ‘“Rebels” and “Good Boys”: Patronage, Intimidation, and Resistance in Zimbabwe’s Attorney General’s Office Post-2000’ which was published in JSAS 39 (4): 765-82
The prize was judged by Diana Jeater (chair), JoAnn McGregor, Neil Parsons and Andrew van der Vlies.
Susanne’s article considers the Attorney General’s office and the role of the law in post-2000 Zimbabwe. The judges commented that:
"Verheul provides a fascinating account of magistrates’ own views about the politicization of the AG’s office and the changes to their practice.The device of focusing on individuals, in order to make a theoretical point about why state employees might choose to uphold legal principles at the expense of career advantage, takes us beyond the 'neo-patrimonialism' model and opens up new kinds of questions about the workings of the state and the rule of law. The work is ambitious and deftly done, providing a coherent riposte to the idea that Zimbabwe should be cast as a neo-patrimonial state and making an innovative contribution to debates over the African postcolonial state more widely."
The prize will be presented at the African Studies Association UK conference at the University of Sussex in September 2014.