Date: 16 January 2025
Time: 9:30–12:30
Location: Room 3.122, Bâtiment de Recherche Sud, Campus Condorcet, Aubervilliers
The Shebeens and Shebeen Queens of Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, 1920s – 1970s
Nathaniel Chimhete, University of Zimbabwe
Abstract
The article traces the history of shebeens and shebeen queens in Salisbury (now Harare), Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), from the 1920s to the 1970s. It contends that scholars have narrowly defined the shebeen as an illegal liquor outlet. This characterization of the shebeen portrays shebeen queens as nothing more than proprietors of drinking dens. In this article I take a more expansive definition of a shebeen to be a compound institution which not only encompassed other institutions but was also co-opted by other urban organizations. This allows me to fully appreciate the contribution of women in the development of urban institutions that sustained their lives and those of their families. The article is based on oral interviews and archival materials.
Keywords: Southern Rhodesia, shebeens, alcohol, burial societies, tea parties and mutual aid societies.
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