Frelimo's Political Ruling through Violence and Memory in Postcolonial Mozambique

Abstract

Resumen. A partir del trabajo de campo etnográfico en el distrito de Massinga, en este artículo analizo la legitimidad de las autoridades tradicionales como un proceso de negociación que no puede desvincularse de la historia regional del África austral. Las transformaciones sociales producidas por el Estado colonial y la industria minera afectaron a las sociedades africanas. Los migrantes a las minas, excluidos de la modernidad en la que participaban, estaban a la vez dentro y fuera de dos procesos de reproducción social. Así, de entre los jóvenes proletarios de cada generación saldrían los futuros ancianos tradicionales. Esta posición ambigua se reflejaba en la construcción de casas cada vez más modernas, lo que, a su vez, contribuía a que cada nueva generación renovase la legitimidad de las instituciones tradicionales. Cuando los hombres perdieron la centralidad social que las minas les otorgaban, también perdieron la capacidad de renovar la legitimidad tradicional de sus instituciones. Palabras clave: autoridad tradicional; Estado; migración labora; rito de paso; ruptura generacional. [en] Ruins and Legitimacy in Massinga. Ways of Thinking the Past among Impoverished Elders in Southern MozambiqueAbstract. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork in Massinga district, this article presents the building up of traditional authority's legitimacy as a process linked to southern Africa regional history. Both the colonial State and the mining industry transformed African societies. Rural migrants, despite being confined to the customary sphere, were in fact straddling two different systems of social reproduction, as for successful young proletarians would become respected traditional elders. Thanks to this ambiguous position, each generation of migrants was able to build new and fancy houses. By doing so, they also contributed to renewing the legitimacy of traditional institutions. Once the mines stopped the recruitment of Mozambican young miners, the usual way to renew legitimacy collapsed.

Cinema and Conflict in Postcolonial Mozambique: Archival Images as Illustration and Evidence in Estas São as Armas (1978)

“…44-49, 85-89), the film makes no use of this material but substitutes the colonial voice-over with another dominant discourse when showing newsreels about cotton harvest, thereby silencing the subalterns. Furthermore, in the context of an idealized national history written by Frelimo, internal issues like the handling of political opponents, former political prisoners, or the challenges the movement faced when trying to build the 'homem novo' have no place (Igreja 2010). Still, this is not surprising when taking into account that Estas sao as armas is closely linked to a period in which a certain type of cinema, a 'liberation cinema' (Andrade-Watkins 1995, p. 135) prevailed.…”

Violence, Rumor, and Elusive Trust in Mocímboa da Praia, Mozambique

“…The division between Frelimo/Makonde and Renamo/Mwani led to bitter electoral contests. Like elsewhere in the country, Renamo effectively attracted support among those alienated by Frelimo (Bertelsen 2009;Dinerman 2006;Geffray 1991;Igreja 2008Igreja , 2010Manning 1998). Frelimo's post-independence policies strongly alienated the Mwani, who were perceived locally as aligned with the Portuguese colonial power and contributing little to the fight for the country's independence.…”

Ideological twinning: socialist aesthetics and political meetings in Maputo, Mozambique

“…From the late 1970s, the political rhetoric of the new government was further sharpened and it was increasingly emphasized how internal enemies were hindering the socialist process through rumours, conspiracies, and economic sabotage (Hall & Young : 48). In his detailed analysis of the so‐called ‘Meeting of the Compromised’ in 1982, where accused opponents of the socialist revolution were questioned and scorned in public, Victor Igreja () exposes the violence and ruthlessness with which the Frelimo government wanted to transform Mozambican society. Focusing on one particularly brutal encounter, Igreja describes how ‘the way in which Machel [the Mozambican president] created the context for this interrogation demonstrated that he desired to humiliate [the accused person]’ (2010: 793).…”