Issue

Vol. 34 No. 3-4 (2009): Africa Development

7 - Mozambique: The Rise of a Micro Dual State

https://doi.org/10.4314/ad.v34i3-4.63532
https://doi.org/10.4314/ad.v34i3-4.63532
Maria Paula Meneses
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9812-2177
Boaventura de Sousa Santos
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3359-3626

Corresponding Author(s) : Maria Paula Meneses

mpmeneses@gmail.com

Africa Development, Vol. 34 No. 3-4 (2009): Africa Development

Abstract

The decade from 1990 to 2000 was a period of sustained political activity in Africa, leading towards democratisation. Under this scope, Mozambique is widely seen as one paradigmatic success story. Yet, the country’s multiparty democratic system remains challenged by a strong authoritarianism that hampers open deliberation in political public discourse.This paper discusses some reasons for this democratic hold-up in Mozambique’s political and social transition within the broad and ongoing democratisation process in Sub-Saharan Africa. With an emphasis on the analysis of the political situation in the northern town of Angoche, this article argues that the persistence of central government authoritarianism is a reminder of a political liberalisation without democratising the political systems. Indeed, local municipal officials are now elected and receive revenue transfers, but remain limited by other measures.2 The central state successfully resists attempts to devolve broader decision-making authority to municipalities.


Far from the ideal Weberian type of state bureaucracy, public administration is highly politicised in the sense that the building up of the administrative capacities of the state are seen as a way of consolidating the political leverage of the ruling party – Frelimo. The paper defends, however, that indeed, a detailed analysis of the public political actions at local level, between distinct political structures, shows that successive authoritarian regimes have not totally erased the freedom of speech and thought, even if they have relegated opposition to ever more marginal spaces.

Keywords

Mozambique Angoche, Democracy Frelimo Autoritarianism
[1]
Meneses, M.P. and Santos, B. de S. 2009. 7 - Mozambique: The Rise of a Micro Dual State: https://doi.org/10.4314/ad.v34i3-4.63532. Africa Development. 34, 3-4 (Sep. 2009). DOI:https://doi.org/10.4314/ad.v34i3-4.63532.
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Author Biographies

Maria Paula Meneses

Maria Paula Meneses is a Principal researcher at the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra. A Mozambican scholar, she attended secondary school in Maputo, and later on did her graduate studies in Russia (MA in History from St. Petersburg University) and obtained her PhD in the USA, by Rutgers University.
At the CES Maria Paula Meneses develops several research projects and teaches in two PhD programs, namely Postcolonialisms and Global Citizenship and Human Rights in the 21st th century. Internationally she co-coordinates, with Boaventura de Sousa Santos and Karina Bidaseca, CES-CLACSO e-learning specialization course on Epistemologies of the South. Previously she was a Professor at Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique.
Her research focus on the political history and socio-legal complexity of southern Africa, especially in Mozambique, Angola and South Africa. At the heart of her interests are the relations between knowledge, power and societies, paying special attention to people who experienced the violence of the colonial encounter. She has conducted various projects on the postcolonial legal pluralism - with a focus on the relationship between the state and 'traditional authorities'-, the relationship between official history, memory(ies) and other narratives of belonging in contemporary identity struggles. Another of the topics in which she has been working focuses on the possibilities of decolonization of the university, a theme that he has addressed particularly from her African experience.
Her work has been published in journals, books and reports in several countries, including Mozambique, Spain, Portugal, Senegal, United States, England, Germany, Colombia, amid others. Recent publications include, co-edited with Boaventura de Sousa Santos, a volume on "Epistemologies of the Global South" (Almedina, 2009, 2011; Cortez, 2010, Akal, 2014), integrating contributions of scholars from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.

Boaventura de Sousa Santos

Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the School of Economics, University of Coimbra, Portugal, and Distinguished Legal Scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.
Director of the Center for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra and Scientific Coordinator of the Permanent Observatory for Portuguese Justice.

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