ZWAM
Encyclopedia
ZWAM was a youth movement which emerged in Antananarivo
, Madagascar
(the Malagasy Republic) in 1972 to support the student protests against the rule of President Philibert Tsiranana
. The name has various interpretations, including "Malagasy Western Slave Youth" and "Zatovo Warriors' Association of Malagasy". The term "Western" in the title comes from the fact that members of the group were fans of Spaghetti Western
s and dressed in cowboy
hats. According to Lesley Sharp the "cowboys" of ZWAM "assumed a style of dress reminiscent of Clint Eastwood
, a loner recognized as the 'champion of real justice' over 'the venal guardians of formal law'". The group later changed its name to ZOAM, an acronym for Zatovo Orin'Asa Malagasy ("Young Unemployed of Madagascar").
The movement drew its membership from the poor, "black" quarters of the capital, traditionally inhabited by the descendants of slaves. ZWAM were the first slave descendants to form an organisation in Madagascar and they campaigned against discrimination against slave descendants in education and employment.
Antananarivo
Antananarivo , formerly Tananarive , is the capital and largest city in Madagascar. It is also known by its French colonial shorthand form Tana....
, Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
(the Malagasy Republic) in 1972 to support the student protests against the rule of President Philibert Tsiranana
Philibert Tsiranana
Philibert Tsiranana was a Malagasy politician and leader, who served as the first President of Madagascar from 1959 to 1972....
. The name has various interpretations, including "Malagasy Western Slave Youth" and "Zatovo Warriors' Association of Malagasy". The term "Western" in the title comes from the fact that members of the group were fans of Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
s and dressed in cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
hats. According to Lesley Sharp the "cowboys" of ZWAM "assumed a style of dress reminiscent of Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
, a loner recognized as the 'champion of real justice' over 'the venal guardians of formal law'". The group later changed its name to ZOAM, an acronym for Zatovo Orin'Asa Malagasy ("Young Unemployed of Madagascar").
The movement drew its membership from the poor, "black" quarters of the capital, traditionally inhabited by the descendants of slaves. ZWAM were the first slave descendants to form an organisation in Madagascar and they campaigned against discrimination against slave descendants in education and employment.