Embracing prosperity: The cosmopolitan lifestyle in Maputo

Abstract

This article explores the lifestyle of urban young adults in Maputo city. To make sense of such contemporary practices, I historically excavate the social stratification of the city, demonstrating how the combination of historical processes such as FRELIMO's Socialist post-independence liberalization of the economy and the impact of structural adjustment programs shaped urban dynamics of social stratification in Maputo with such specificities that challenge a linear application of the concept of class. Imperative to this group's contemporariness is their belonging to the transnational and transcultural youth culture that reaches different media and popular culture sources, which allows them to come to see themselves as members of a global community. This article will detail the liaisons and processes highlighting how wealth and prosperity become central in the creative ways urban youth in Maputo manipulate their world to access cosmopolitan lifestyles and consequently transform social and cultural identities while simultaneously being part of the global community.