The coup that took place in Zimbabwe in November 2017 resulted in the resignation of Robert Mugabe, the man who had been at the helm of his country for several decades. This coup has been the subject of multidisciplinary academic research, including the book under review by Blessing-Miles Tendi, whose voice is certainly not new in scholarship on Zimbabwean politics. His book, The Overthrow of Robert Mugabe: Gender, Coups, and Diplomats, which consists of seven main chapters, “takes seriously the politics of gender and women in coup situations” (p. 3). This book seeks to fill a gap in political science wherein scholars “underplay or take no notice of the gendered undercurrents of the coup-plotting and the gendered ways coup-makers publicly perform or present themselves” (p. 13).

In his introductory chapter, Tendi grapples with the gendered aspects of coup making. Coups are gendered in a particular way because of the position of armed forces, whose top tiers are occupied by men, as “primary actors” (p. 1). He observes, furthermore, that looking into the private spaces of the coup makers could potentially “expand the breadth of the analysis and facilitate the visibility of agency of women in coup situations” (p. 3). Investigating the roles that may have been played by the generals’ wives and lovers, and what they may have known about the Zimbabwean coup, presents an intriguing approach to understanding that coup. From the onset, however, this presents a problematic gendered strategy for incorporating women into the narrative of coups, as it relies on the same stereotypes that deny women political agency, confining them to domestic and private spheres. Reading through this book, I noted with concern that very few women were actually interviewed for this book, even as the research relies primarily on interview data. I had hoped, for instance, to hear the perspectives of the wives and lovers of the generals to whom Tendi alludes at the beginning of the book. Unfortunately, these voices remain obfuscated throughout the book.

In chapter 2, entitled “Gender is the Stuff of Coups,” Tendi reviews existing political science literature on coups and concludes that, for the most part, it neglects gender. Some of the few works that do employ the gender lens “duplicate patriarchal biases and sexist tropes” (p. 15). He further acknowledges that some nonpolitical scientists have productively used the gender lens to study coups. Yet, he overlooks the fact that gender and politics are interdisciplinary, allowing for scholars to engage across disciplines. Although Tendi recognizes the scholarship on gender and coups carried out by nonpolitical scientists, the danger of viewing academic disciplines as distinct silos, as implied in his arguments in this chapter, neglects critical work undertaken on a topic simply because it does not align with disciplinary frameworks.

In chapter 3, Tendi pursues his second main objective, which is to illustrate—in response to what he terms “inaccurate representations” of this coup as “remarkably unique or special” (p. 46)—that the Zimbabwean coup of 2017 “bore strong resemblance with coups that have occurred elsewhere in Africa” (p. 45).

While the third chapter draws less on a gender perspective to achieve its objectives, the fourth chapter on “Old Man Machiavelli,” draws on gender, feminist, and masculinity discourses to “reveal the principal motives and catalyst” for the coup in Zimbabwe (p. 71). The discussion on the motivations behind the coup centers largely on interpersonal relations and the formation of factions within Zimbabwe’s ruling party (ZANU PF). One of the compelling propositions in this chapter is Tendi’s examination of the labeling by Mugabe’s widow, Grace Mugabe, of Mnangagwa (then-Vice President of Zimbabwe) as a prostitute. He interprets this as disruptive because it turns “the political grammar of prostitutes against the patriarchal men” (p. 75). His interpretation of the phrase “old man Machiavelli” as feminization is similarly compelling. This phrase portrayed Mugabe disparagingly, as a “wily mind but too weak or enervated because of old age”; the “manly men” in this construction, the generals, undermined his credibility by feminizing him as an “old man Machiavelli” (p. 83).

Despite raising important issues, the fifth chapter is one of the book’s weakest in structural and theoretical terms. In Tendi’s words, “this chapter is a counterpoint to game theory models of coup dynamics that discount ideas and beliefs as influential in the accomplishment of coups” (p. 101). To achieve its objective, the chapter is divided into two parts: one on the “gendered character of ideas that helped ensure the success of Zimbabwe’s coup” (p. 101), and the other on the function of traditional religion and magic in coup dynamics. There seems to be no effort to connect these two analytical strands. Although the section on “a gendered vote of no confidence” is written in exquisite prose, it misses the point that one of the principal reasons why Grace Mugabe was deemed unacceptable as a successor to her husband was that coup makers and others did not want a woman to occupy that position. This is reflected in the appeal Tendi cites—“Baba Chiwenga tipeiwo commander, vasina mazamo (Father Chiwenga, give us a commander who does not have breasts)”—and not necessarily that she “disrupted ideas about respectable femininity” (p. 111).

In chapters 6 and 7, Tendi addresses the fourth objective of his book: to enhance the understanding of the roles of, and complex responses by, “foreign actors” in coups’ (p. 3). In chapter 6, Tendi discusses the roles that both Britain and China could have played in the Zimbabwean coup. Although he notes that “this chapter maintains that [the disputation of Britain’s involvement] was acutely gendered” (p. 129), the actual analysis engages little with gender except for a reference to how Catriona Laing, the British Ambassador to Zimbabwe at that time, was described as “emotional and irrational.” This, of course, reinforces “the patriarchal notion that international diplomacy is … a men’s game” (p. 147). Similarly, in chapter 7, Tendi references an encounter in which one diplomat expressed doubts about Grace Mugabe being a credible interviewee for Tendi’s project, asking, “does she have the ability to articulate history?” (p. 174). While these two points represent typical gendered issues, they do not seem to clearly constitute the gendered concerns about the roles played by diplomats in the Zimbabwean coup. Rather, they appear to fall into the category of typical sexist notions encountered in any political or nonpolitical context.

In a style similar to chapters 6 and 7, in the last chapter of the book, Tendi discusses the involvement, roles, and perceptions of the African Union Commission, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and other high-profile politicians in Southern Africa more broadly. He rightly notes how top posts in the African Union (AU) Commission are often occupied by men, and provides detail on the position of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the first woman elected as AU Commission chairperson, highlighting her advocacy for gender equality. This point, however, reads as a digression rather than a contribution to the gendered politics of the responses to the Zimbabwean coup by other Southern African actors.

Despite the shortcomings highlighted earlier, this book is a welcome addition not only for political scientists but also for scholars interested in the intersections of gender, politics, coups, and the Zimbabwean coup of 2017 in particular. There is clear evidence of intensive fieldwork involving high-profile politicians, who are often beyond the reach of many scholars.