The Zimbabwe African National Union (Patriotic Front) (ZANU[PF]) regime’s survival strategies have been misleadingly presented as relying mainly upon political violence. This neglects analysis focusing on the ZANU(PF) regime’s non-violent survival strategies, which have also been key to its longevity. While a growing body of literature discusses ZANU(PF) non-violent strategies, including patriotic history, cultural nationalism and provision of land for housing, it has missed much of what has kept ZANU(PF) in power. The existing studies failed to go beyond the idea that ZANU(PF) actors are deeply cynical and only interested in ‘power’, not ‘believers’ in their own ideology or responsive to people’s needs. Using the cases of ZANU(PF)’s creation and co-optation of civil society organisations that challenge ‘genuine’ ones for advocacy space, especially labour unions and students’ unions between 2000 and 2018, this study makes a twofold contribution to the literature on ZANU(PF)’s political survival. It demonstrates the importance of civil society engagement as a non-violent strategy in ensuring ZANU(PF)’s political survival and that ZANU(PF)’s political project is ideological in addition to being about staying in power. The article concludes that ZANU(PF)’s strategies in relation to civil society were equally critical for the regime’s survival in that they necessarily complemented the violent strategies and worked in its favour by disorienting citizen objections and mobilising popular support.

津巴布韦非洲民族联盟（爱国阵线）（ZANU[PF]）政权的生存战略被误导为主要依靠政治暴力。这忽略了侧重于 ZANU(PF) 政权的非暴力生存策略的分析，这也是其长寿的关键。虽然越来越多的文献讨论了 ZANU(PF) 的非暴力策略，包括爱国历史、文化民族主义和住房土地供应，但它遗漏了很多让 ZANU(PF) 掌权的因素。现有研究未能超越 ZANU(PF) 参与者非常愤世嫉俗并且只对“权力”感兴趣，而不是对自己的意识形态或对人们需求做出反应的“信徒”感兴趣。使用 ZANU(PF) 创建和选择民间社会组织的案例，这些组织挑战“真正”的宣传空间，特别是 2000 年至 2018 年间的工会和学生会，这项研究对 ZANU(PF) 政治生存的文献做出了双重贡献。它证明了公民社会参与作为确保 ZANU(PF) 政治生存的非暴力战略的重要性，以及 ZANU(PF) 的政治项目除了保持权力之外还具有意识形态。文章得出结论，ZANU(PF) 与公民社会相关的策略对于该政权的生存同样至关重要，因为它们必然补充暴力策略，并通过迷惑公民的反对意见和动员民众的支持而对其有利。它证明了公民社会参与作为确保 ZANU(PF) 政治生存的非暴力战略的重要性，以及 ZANU(PF) 的政治项目除了保持权力之外还具有意识形态。文章得出结论，ZANU(PF) 与公民社会相关的策略对于该政权的生存同样至关重要，因为它们必然补充暴力策略，并通过迷惑公民的反对意见和动员民众的支持而对其有利。它证明了公民社会参与作为确保 ZANU(PF) 政治生存的非暴力战略的重要性，以及 ZANU(PF) 的政治项目除了保持权力之外还具有意识形态。文章得出结论，ZANU(PF) 与公民社会相关的策略对于该政权的生存同样至关重要，因为它们必然补充暴力策略，并通过迷惑公民的反对意见和动员民众的支持而对其有利。