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.
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX
References
  1. Abrahamsson, H., Nilsson, A., 1997, The Washington Consensus and Moçambique. Götegorg: Chalmers Reporcentral.
  2. Alexander, J., 1997, ‘The Local State in Post-War Mozambique: Political Practice and Ideas About Authority’, Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 67 (1): 1-26.
  3. Alves, A.T., Cossa, B.R., 1998, Guião das Autarquias Locais. Maputo: Ministério da Administração Estatal and GTZ.
  4. Amaro Monteiro, F., 1993, Islão, o Poder e a Guerra: Moçambique, 1964-1974, Porto, Centro de Estudos Africanos da Universidade Portucalense.
  5. Bledsoe, C.H., 1980, Women and Marriage in Kpelle Society, Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  6. Bonate, L.J.K., 2003, ‘The Ascendance of Angoche: The Politics of Kinship and Territory in Nineteenth Century Northern Mozambique’, Lusotopie 2003:115-140. Bonate, L.J.K., 2006, ‘Matriliny, Islam and Gender’, Journal of Religion in Africa, 2 (36), 139-166.
  7. Bonate, L.J.K., 2007a, ‘Roots of Diversity in Mozambican Islam’, Lusotopie, XIX (1): 129-149.
  8. Bonate, L.J.K., 2007b, ‘Islam and Chiefship in Northern Mozambique’, ISIM Review, 19: 56-57.
  9. Braathen, E., Jørgensen, B.V., 1998, ‘Democracy without People? Local government reform and 1998 Municipal elections in Mozambique’, Lusotopie 1998: 31-38.
  10. Brito, L., 1988, « Une relecture nécessaire: la genèse du Parti-État Frelimo »,Politique Africaine, 29, 15-27.
  11. Cabrita, J., 2000, Mozambique: The Tortuous Road to Democracy, Basingstoke: Palgrave.
  12. Capela, J., 2002, O Tráfico de Escravos nos Portos de Moçambique, 1733-1904, Porto: Afrontamento.
  13. Carbone, G.M., 2005, ‘Continuidade na Renovação? Ten Years of Multiparty Politics in Mozambique: Roots, Evolution and Stabilisation of the Frelimo-Renamo Party System’, Journal of Modern African Studies, 43 (3): 417–442.
  14. Chingono, M.F., 1996, The State, Violence and Development: The Political Economy of War in Mozambique, 1975-1992, Aldershot: Avery Ashgate.
  15. Conceição, R., 2006, Entre o Mar e a Terra: situação identitária do norte de Moçambique, Maputo: Promédia.
  16. Cuahela, A., 1996, Autoridade Tradicional em Moçambique, Maputo: Ministério da Administração Estatal.
  17. Cuereneia, A., 2001, The Process of Decentralisation and Local Governance in Mozambique: Experiences and Lessons Learnt. Paper presented to the UNDP (at http://www.uncdf.org/english/countries/mozambique/local_governance/ technical_review_reports/ACuereneia.php, accessed on 14th May 2005).
  18. Dinerman, A., 2006, Revolution, Counter-revolution and Revisionism in Post- Colonial Africa: The Case of Mozambique, 1975-1994, London: Routledge. Eickelman, D.F., Piscatori, J., 2004, Muslim Politics, Princeton: Princeton University
  19. Press.
  20. Feliciano, J.F., 1998, Antropologia Económica dos Thonga do sul de Moçambique. Maputo: Arquivo Histórico de Moçambique.
  21. Francisco, A.A.S., 2003, ‘Reestruturação Económica e Desenvolvimento’, in B. Santos and J.C. Trindade, eds., Conflito e Transformação Social: uma Paisagem das Justiças em Moçambique, Porto: Afrontamento, volume 1: 141-178.
  22. Geffray, C., 1990, La Cause des Armes au Mozambique: anthropologie d’une guerre civile, Paris: Khartala.
  23. Grest, J., 1995, ‘Urban Management, Local Government Reform and the Democratisation Process in Mozambique: Maputo City 1975-1990’, Journal of Southern African Studies, 21 (1): 147-164.
  24. Guambe, J.M.E., 1998, ‘Historical Evolution of Decentralisation in Mozambique’, in A.M. Silva (ed.), Decentralisation and Municipal Administration, Maputo, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, pp. 13-21.
  25. Hafkin, N.J., 1973, Trade, Society, and Politics in Northern Mozambique, c. 1753- 1913, Ph.D. Thesis, Boston University, 1973.
  26. Hall, M. and Young, T., 2000, Confronting Leviathan: Mozambique Since Independence, Athens: Ohio University Press.
  27. Hanlon, J., 1997, Guia Básico Sobre as Autarquias Locais, Maputo, Ministério da Administração Estatal e AWEPA.
  28. Hanlon, J., 2001, Mozambique: Who Calls the Shots? London: James Currey. Harrison, G., 1996, ‘Democracy in Mozambique: The Significance of Multi-party Elections’, Review of African Political Economy, 23 (67): 19-25.
  29. Kyed, H.M., Buur, L., 2006, ‘New Sites of Citizenship: Recognition of Traditional Authority and Group-based Citizenship in Mozambique’, Journal of Southern African Studies 32 (3): 563-581.
  30. Lundin, I.B., 1998, ‘Traditional Authority in Mozambique’, in A.M. Silva (ed.), Decentralisation and Municipal Administration, Maputo, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, pp. 33-42.
  31. Lundin, I.B., 2000, ‘Africa Watch: Will Mozambique Remain a Success Story?’, African Security Review, 9 (3) (at http://www.iss.co.za/pubs/ASR/9No3/AfricaWatch.html, accessed on 4th May 2006).
  32. Lupi, E.C., 1907, Angoche: breve memoria sobre uma das capitanias-móres do Districto de Moçambique, Lisboa, Typographia do Annuario Commercial Machel, S.M., 1985, ‘Make Beira the starting-point for an organisational offensive’,
  33. in B. Munslow (ed.), Samora Machel - An African Revolutionary: Selected Speeches and Writings, London: Zed Books: 73-80.
  34. Machel, S.M., 1985, ‘We are Declaring War on the Enemy Within’, in B. Munslow, (ed.), Samora Machel: An African Revolutionary. Selected Speeches and Writings, London: Zed Books: 86-103.
  35. Manor, J., 1999, The Political Economy of Democratic Decentralisation, Washington, DC: World Bank.
  36. Massano de Amorim, P., 1911, Relatório sobre a ocupação de Angoche: Operações de campanha e mais serviço realizados, Anno 1910, Lourenço Marques: Imprensa Nacional.
  37. Mbwiliza, J.F., 1991, A History of Commodity Production in Makuani, 1600- 1900: Mercantilist Accumulation to Imperialist Domination, Dar es Salaam: University of Dar es Salaam Press.
  38. Mello Machado, A.J., 1970, Entre os Macuas de Angoche, Historiando Moçambique, Lisboa, Prelo.
  39. Meneses, M.P., 2007, ‘Pluralism, Law and Citizenship in Mozambique: Mapping the Complexity’, Oficina do CES, 291.
  40. Meneses, M.P., 2008, ‘Mulheres insubmissas? Mudanças e conflitos no norte de Moçambique’, Ex Aequo, 17: 71-89.
  41. Meneses, M.P., Fumo, J., Mbilana, G., Gomes, C., 2003, ‘Autoridades Tradicionais no contexto do Pluralismo Jurídico’, in B.S. Santos and J.C. Trindade (eds.). Conflito e Transformação Social: uma Paisagem das Justiças em Moçambique, Porto, Afrontamento, volume 2: 341-425.
  42. Newitt, M.D.D., 1972a, ‘The Early History of the Sultanate of Angoche’, Journal of African History 13 (3): 397-406.
  43. Newitt, M.D.D., 1972b, ‘Angoche, the Slave Trade and the Portuguese c. 1844- 1910’, The Journal of African History, 13 (4), 659-672.
  44. Newitt, M.D.D., 1995, A History of Mozambique, London: Hurst & Co. OECD, 2005, Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, Paris: OECD
  45. O’Laughlin, B., 2000, ‘Class and the Customary: The Ambiguous Legacy of the Indigenato in Mozambique’, African Affairs, 99 (395): 5-42.
  46. Pélissier, R., 2000, História de Moçambique: formação e oposição, 1854-1928.
  47. Lisboa: Editora Estampa, 2 vol.
  48. Pinto de Carvalho, A., 1988, ‘Notas para a história das confrarias Islâmicas na Ilha de Moçambique’, Arquivo 4: 59–66.
  49. Rita-Ferreira, A., 1967-1968, ‘Os Africanos de Lourenço Marques’, Memórias do Instituto de Investigação Científica de Moçambique, 9 (C): 95-491.
  50. Santos, B.S., 2006, ‘The Heterogeneous State and Legal Pluralism in Mozambique’, Law & Society Review, 40 (1): 39-75.
  51. Santos, B.S., Meneses, M. P., 2006, Identidades, Colonizadores e Colonizadores: Portugal e Moçambique, Relatório final do Projecto POCTI/41280/SOC/2001. Coimbra: CES.
  52. Santos, B.S., Trindade, J.C., Meneses, M.P. (eds.), 2006, Law and Justice in a Multicultural Society: The Case of Mozambique, Dakar: CODESRIA.
  53. Vansina, J., 1990, Paths in the Rainforests: Toward a History of Political Tradition in Equatorial Africa, Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
  54. Vines, A., 1991, RENAMO: From Terrorism to Democracy in Mozambique? London: James Currey.
  55. Weimer, B., 1996, ‘Challenges to Democratisation and Regional Development in Southern Africa: Focus in Mozambique’, Regional Development Dialogue 17 (2): 32-59.
  56. West, H., Kloeck-Jenson, S., 1998, ‘Betwixt and Between: ‘Traditional Authority’ and Democratic Decentralisation in Post-war Mozambique’, African Affairs 98: 455-484.
  57. World Bank 2005, Mozambique Country Economic Memorandum. Sustaining Growth and Reducing Poverty, Washington, D.C., World Bank.
Read More

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.

Download
PDF
Statistic
Read Counter : 94 Download : 35

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.