Mozambican Society Research Articles

Systemic Peacebuilding in Mozambique: MOZ2050 Strategic Plan

Mozambique, a nation with a tumultuous history marked by colonization, civil war, and ongoing socio - economic challenges, stands at a critical juncture in its development trajectory. Since gaining independence from Portugal in 1975, Mozambique has grappled with political transitions, armed conflict, and the exploitation of its abundant natural resources. Despite its mineral wealth, particularly in the Northern region, the country continues to face pervasive issues of poverty, inequality, and social injustice. The signing of the Peace Agreement in 1992, which brought an end to the civil war between the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) and the National Resistance of Mozambique (RENAMO), marked a pivotal moment in the nation's history. However, the aftermath of conflict has left deep scars on Mozambican society, exacerbating existing vulnerabilities and fostering conditions conducive to violent extremism. Cabo Delgado Province, renowned for its mineral riches yet plagued by poverty and instability, has become a focal point of violent extremism, notably with the emergence of the self- proclaimed Islamic State. The region has witnessed a wave of terrorist attacks, leading to mass displacement, loss of life, and profound psychological trauma among its inhabitants, particularly women, children, and persons with disabilities. In response to this complex crisis, the Mozambique 2050 (MOZ2050) Strategic Plan has been formulated, representing a holistic and innovative approach to peacebuilding and resilience-building. Grounded in extensive contextual analysis and stakeholder consultations, this multifaceted strategy aims to address the root causes of extremism while fostering social cohesion, economic empowerment, and sustainable development.

Education in values: An analysis of teachers’ role in Mozambican military higher education

Now that the moral values preserved by the Mozambican society are contesting by insurgents and there are already allegations of collaboration between some military and insurgents (Habibe et al., 2019), the role of teachers in value education in military education is pertinent to examine. From this perspective, with a qualitative method approach and the involvement of 21 military personnel, the study analysed the role of military teachers in education values in Mozambican military higher education. Based on the analysis, it turned out that a teacher is one of the vectors that a military higher education uses to shape the new generations of officers. To this end, the teacher first adopts values about convictions, character, duty and tradition, preserved by the military institution. Then, it uses four modes of education to the values: active exposure class, supervision of the institution rules, exemplary demonstration, and exposure to professional experience; using these methods and the values they adopt, the teacher teaches students to discover and adjust to the military environment. But, factors related to the international situation, social, political and economic situations, and greed mean that some graduates in military higher education do not follow the values of Mozambican society.

Emmanuel Mounier's Personalism, the dignity of the human person and the crisis of values in Mozambican society

In the face of the socio-political and economic crisis that characterised the 20th century, Emmanuel Mounier’s ethics of personalism (1905- 1950) was characterised by resistance to the absorption of the human will in the hands of collectivism in defending the value of the unique- ness of the human person. Mounier adopted such ideas based on the Kantian ethical perspective of treating all human beings as ends in themselves and not merely as means to satisfy other people’s desires and interests. However, although we are in a century in which, through the use of reason, man has achieved many accomplishments for the wellbeing of humanity, he has not been able to solve the greatest chal- lenges posed by the moral crisis that he himself has caused. In most situations, human reason has been and still is used to the disadvantage of other human beings. For these reasons, using a qualitative- hermeneutical approach, through an analysis of the current literature, this article aims to discuss the crisis of moral values in Mozambican so- ciety, within the context of Emmanuel Mounier’s philosophical person- alism.

ADULT EDUCATION, CULTURAL IDENTITY AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT IN MOZAMBIQUE

The article is the result of a research study carried out in Zambezia, Mozambique, with 250 students attending adult education. Its objective is to analyze the current situation of the illiteracy-extreme poverty relation within Mozambican society looking for remote and immediate causes. The research aims to ultimately make, a strategic contribution in adult education in terms of practical and operative indication in view of development. Mixed methods research design was used combining qualitative (25 adult students interviewed, five in five schools) and quantitative approaches (250 students submitted to the questionnaire, fifty in each school) in a representative and proportional casual sample from five districts of Zambezia Province. The sample requirement was that students had to be undergoing adult education. The research hypothesis was “The more adult education includes the elements of cultural identity, the more it contributes to the elimination of illiteracy-extreme poverty and favors local development in rural areas in Mozambique”. From the analysis of textual narratives and statistics the hypothesis was confirmed concluding that adult education, linked to cultural identity, brings local development in rural areas, opposing illiteracy-extreme poverty and dependence on foreign financial packages such as Action Plan for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty (APRAP).

Science, technology, engineering and math education versus collaborative higher education methodologies: challenges, opportunities and limitations

This article evaluates the challenges, opportunities, and limitations of the implementation of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education in the Mozambican context, considering its potential in promoting participatory methodologies. Using the method of a literature review, the article analyzes the challenges, opportunities, and limitations that the introduction of this practice imposes on the promotion of participatory methodologies in Mozambican education. The results show us the challenges and limitations existing at various levels: educational policy formulation, curriculum structure, infrastructure, and the faculty training, on the one hand. On the other hand, they suggest that STEM offers some opportunities for reframing the act of teaching/learning, leading to increase the quality and relevance of teaching. Its implementation in the school territory through project learning or problem solving suggests that this practice can be a valuable tool in the promotion of collaborative methodologies in the teaching/learning process, thus contributing to the improvement of educational practice in the Mozambican school. However, its transposition and application in the Mozambican context must be done critically and reflexively, respecting the socio-cultural specificities of Mozambican society, while preserving the strengths of the current national education system, on the other hand.

Moçambique e “uma guerra que parece não ter fim” em Terra Sonâmbula

Em 4 de outubro de 1992, foi assinado o Acordo Geral de Paz (AGP) que pôs fim ao conflito armado que assolou Moçambique por dezesseis anos. Apesar de este dia ser celebrado como o dia da Paz e da Reconciliação e oficialmente marcar o fim da guerra entre a Frelimo e a Renamo (1976-1992), este também pode ser visto, de uma forma mais ampla, como o fim de uma era de violência direta e de conflito armado que começou com a Luta de Libertação Nacional (1964-1974) contra o colonialismo português. Em seu romance Terra Sonâmbula, Mia Couto entrelaça duas histórias diferentes, misturando o presente e o passado, com o intuito de denunciar a destruição causada por “uma guerra que parece não ter fim”. Argumentamos que essa ideia de continuidade da guerra em Moçambique se expressa em três dimensões: através das ligações entre a guerra colonial-libertação e a guerra civil, por meio das memórias daquelas pessoas que a vivenciaram de forma direta ou indireta, e da memória coletiva de forma mais geral e, por fim, através da permanência de relações de colonialidade na sociedade moçambicana contemporânea. Com base na obra de Mia Couto e recurso às gramáticas do Pós-colonialismo, dos Estudos para a Paz e dos Estudos da Memória, este artigo reflete sobre a continuidade da guerra no país e como esse passado ainda se faz tão presente através das narrativas de memórias acerca do mesmo.

SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS: Moçambican ethnicities

This article aims to bring a reflection on the theory of Social Representations from the perspective of Social Psychology. From the bibliographic review, an analogy is made between the theories of social representations, to a concrete society, in this case, the Mozambican society. Social representations have been a topic widely discussed by several and categorized authors, many of them addressing the relationship between cognition-knowledge, individual and society. For this purpose, three Mozambican ethnicities were analyzed, namely, Macuas-Lomués, Ndaus and Tsongas, in which, based on the bibliographic verification of their cultures, beliefs and values, a real analogy can be drawn between the theories on social and cultural representations. the behaviors of these ethnic groups, which make clear the different social representations in the different regions that form the country called Mozambique.The basis of the research was the bibliographic review, both to address the theoretical supports, as well as to address the Mozambican reality.

Concordata Vaticano e Moçambique (2012): laicidade, liberdade religiosa e educação

O presente artigo aborda a complexidade da laicidade na educação da sociedade moçambicana, tendo especial atenção na análise da Concordata firmada entre os Estados de Moçambique e Vaticano, 2012. Este acordo contém a autorização para que o “Ensino Religioso Católico” (ERC) ligado à Igreja Católica seja realizado em qualquer unidade escolar moçambicana. O tema exige aprofundamento e investigação sociológica por se tratar de uma tensão existente entre a noção de laicidade que o recente Estado laico de direito democrático, também baseado no “respeito e na garantia dos direitos e liberdades fundamentais”, exprime em sua carta Magna e, a Concordata que disponibiliza o Sistema Nacional de Educação para ações de cunho proselitistas inserido em um sistema confessional oferecido à população. A problemática possibilita refletir sobre a estratégia católica internacional junto aos países lusófonos, bem como, relacionar a adoção do ERC nas escolas/unidades que prestam serviços de educação contratados pelo governo moçambicano à população em geral. Tendo em vista a pluralidade religiosa local e a imposição do ERC nas respectivas escolas. A pesquisa foi realizada de forma bibliográfica, eletrônica e documental (May, 2004) sob a perspectiva qualitativa com a base teórica das Ciências Sociais e Sociologia das Religiões. Logo, a oferta confessional, estabelecida da Concordata Internacional entre o Vaticano e Moçambique, e as dinâmicas decorrentes, além de contribuírem para o enfraquecimento da pluralidade religiosa e, portanto, da democracia, tornam a educação um campo de disputas também religiosas no país.

AS SINGULARIDADES DO ESPAÇO URBANO E SUAS IMPLICAÇÕES NAS PRÁTICAS TERRITORIAIS DO ENTORNO DE MAPUTO/MOZ

Buscamos apresentar neste artigo o relato de um recorte dos olhares obtidos durante experiência de pesquisa realizada em Maputo, capital de Moçambique, de abril a maio de 2015. No caso do presente olhar, destacamos a análise acerca das singularidades do espaço urbano e suas implicações nas práticas territoriais do Vale do Infulene e Distrito de Marracuene, no entorno de Maputo/MOZ; e do entorno de Xai-Xai, capital da Província de Gaza; além da praia de Chidenguele/Xai-Xai. No deslindar da pesquisa percebemos histórias singulares, com maior destaque às das mulheres. Histórias estas vividas no contexto sempre de acontecimentos marcantes da sociedade moçambicana, tal como o processo de independência nacional (1975) e, como uma de suas consequências, a incorporação do aproveitamento do solo / uso tradicional da terra; além das profundas marcas deixada pela Guerra Civil (1976-1992). As práticas produtivas alternativas efetivadas pelas comunidades, na construção dos territórios, podem ser entendidas como coexistência do “avanço” da modernização capitalista e manutenção de práticas tradicionais, que ressignificam os espaços rural e urbano e se exprimem numa paisagem urbana com fortíssimas imbricações rurais.

Confronting the Silences of History: Licínio Azevedo’s Virgem Margarida and Comboio de Sal e Açúcar

Through fictional portrayals of events that, though based on historical fact, have either been forgotten or marginalised by Frelimo’s process of nation building in the aftermath of the Civil War, Licínio Azevedo’s films Virgem Margarida (2012) and Comboio de Sal e Açúcar (2016) engage with political tensions that are rooted in the past yet continue to affect contemporary Mozambican society. Both films examine the ways in which authority figures, whether explicitly representing the government or not, attempt to control the thoughts and actions of those whom they consider subordinate to them. Specifically, Azevedo casts a critical eye on the ideological training of both citizenry and soldiers that Frelimo considered fundamental to the creation of a new Mozambican society. This study contends that, through these films, Azevedo is engaging in the politics of memory by contesting the official historical version of events. In some cases, this involves presenting a vision of the past that contradicts official history, while, in others, this involves focusing on aspects of the past that official history has chosen to forget. In doing so, Azevedo engages with a discourse concerning the manipulation of official history by those in power.

Recycling Discarded Histories to Chronicle Identities: Making Art from Waste in Mozambique

Contemporary Mozambican artists who utilize recyclia as media create artworks that chronicle their society through bits and pieces of its discarded histories. Creating quintessentially Mozambican art, symbolic materials become potent signifiers of this developing nation. This article explores multivalent themes including object materiality, recycling, art making in Africa, and post-conflict resolution to determine why and how Mozambican artists utilize post-consumer waste. Factors including past wars, poverty, and a quest for creative expansion have contributed to widespread use of recycling as an artistic practice in Mozambique, despite artists’ varied economic, social, and educational levels. Mozambican artists who recycle their nation’s pre-used remnants not only connect to past cultural and artistic practices; they continue these traditions within contemporary contexts. By creating artwork from cast-off materials, artists illustrate how recycling permeates all levels of society, including its broad expansion into art making, and how the use of reprocessed materials both inspires and instills a sense of pride in artistic practices. Themes addressed in artwork made from recyclia include politics, social commentary, and cultural heritage. Artists include Fiel, who transforms destroyed weapons of Mozambique’s past wars into powerful tools for peacebuilding and post-conflict resolution; Carmen, who uses her old dresses to create hanging fabric pieces that capture shadows creating dissonance between light and dark; Joao, who calls for donations of jeans on Facebook that he will patch together and use as a variegated background supports for painting; and Pekiwa, who critiques Mozambican society through his use of recycled boats, windows, and doors.

Centros de reeducação em Moçambique (1975-1985): memórias, silêncios e discursos jornalísticos

No período pós-independência, o objetivo da Frelimo era “livrar a sociedade moçambicana de mazelas associadas ao mundo colonial, burguês e capitalista, rumo à construção do Homem Novo, que passava necessariamente por um processo de “reeducação”, no interior do qual os indivíduos seriam introduzidos numa nova ordem” (Thomaz, 2008, p. 179). Esta nova ordem implicava “trabalho disciplinado, despojamento material, superação de antigas lealdades (étnicas, religiosas, de classe, de raça, regionais) e comportamento moral inatacável” sinónimo do “ideal de Homem Novo” (Thomaz, 2008, p. 179). Os artigos publicados em jornais moçambicanos da época contrastam com os textos dos media internacionais. Ungulani Ba Ka Khosa apresenta, em Entre as memórias silenciadas (2013), um retrato de Moçambique nos primeiros anos do período pós-independência com a ficção a alertar para a necessidade de desafiar e recuperar as memórias silenciadas dos campos de reeducação instituídos pelos dirigentes da Frelimo para construir/educar um “Homem novo”. Ba Ka Khosa (2013) procura desmistificar e exorcizar a história do passado recente com um texto que (re)visita a realidade moçambicana no período pós-independência, que para os reeducandos foi sinónimo de violência, sofrimento e exclusão da história e da memória. Como um dos autores mais provocadores da contemporaneidade moçambicana, Ba Ka Khosa “dilui o passado no presente, a ficção na realidade, fazendo da literatura um vivaz espaço para o debate político” (Gallo, 2013, p. 293). Esta comunicação propõe-se analisar a obra de Ungulani Ba Ka Khosa em paralelo com os textos publicados nos meios de comunicação nacionais e internacionais.

‘Goats eat where they are tied up’: illicit and habitual corruption in Mozambique

ABSTRACTThe article shows that corruption is structural and omnipresent in Mozambican society, effectively legitimising corrupt practices at all levels. Using an anthropological approach, it argues that small-scale corruption has the most immediate effects for the urban and rural poor and is so common that it has become an integrated part of daily life, or ‘habitual’. While most of the poor relate to corruption through tacit acceptance and acts of compliance, its practical implications are most severe for the very poorest, who cannot afford to take part in corrupt exchanges and are excluded from vital social relationships and social services.

HIV prevention: mapping Mozambican people\u2019s views on the acceptability of the widow\u2019s sexual cleansing ritual called pita-kufa

BackgroundIn Mozambique, the widow is traditionally required to undergo a cleansing ritual called pita-kufa, which generally involves several sessions of unprotected sexual intercourse with the brother of her deceased husband. This ritual may play a role in the spread of HIV and reveals, to some degree, the subordinate position to which women are subjected in Mozambican society. Thus, this study’s aim was to map Mozambicans’ views on the acceptability of this ritual, given the gender and public health concerns linked to it.MethodsA total of 359 Mozambicans participated in the study. The data collection instrument consisted of 18 vignettes describing realistic pita-kufa situations, varying as a function of three factors: a widow’s willingness or not to perform the ritual, the perceived effectiveness of the ritual, and the risk level of HIV infection linked to the practice. For each pita-kufa situation presented in the vignettes, the participants were asked to rate its acceptability on an 11-point scale. In addition, the participants wrote comments giving their general views on the ritual. A cluster analysis using the K-means procedure was applied to the quantitative raw data to capture different perspectives, and the participants’ written comments were subjected to thematic and frequency content analysis.ResultsFrom the data gathered though the vignettes, three different perspectives were found: total unacceptability (55% of the participants), conditional acceptability (29% of the participants) and unconditional acceptability (16% of the participants). From the data gathered though the participants’ written comments, it emerged that they thought that the practice of this ritual should evolve (61%), stop (27%) and be kept as it is (12%).ConclusionAccording to the main results, it seems that a large majority of study participants think that this ritual is outdated and needs to evolve in order to minimize the risk of HIV transmission and respect women’s rights.

Surviving the impossible: The function of magical realism in Teresa Prata’s Terra Sonâmbula

Abstract Teresa Prata’s film Terra Sonâmbula (2007), an adaptation of Mia Couto’s magical realist novel of the same name, examines violence from a different perspective than its source material – although both the novel and the film consider the difficulties confronting Mozambican society in the face of a horrific civil war, Couto’s novel was published the same year the war ended, while Prata’s film was released fifteen years later, with the national climate much altered. Despite this difference, both the novel and the film make use of magical realism in certain pivotal moments of their narratives. This study analyses the function of magical realism in both works, arguing that the concept serves as a sort of coping mechanism, a way of making sense of the world that allows the narratives’ characters to remain hopeful despite the violence and devastation that surrounds them.

The AIDS Epidemic and the Mozambican Society of Medicines: an analysis of Brazilian cooperation.

This article analyzes the Brazilian South South Cooperation in Health in Mozambique, specifically the fight against the AIDS Epidemic through the Antiretroviral Factory, in light of the concept of Structural Cooperation in Health, and with a basis in the literature on Cooperation for Development and Global Health. Thus, the article is divided into four parts: (i) a historical-bibliographic review of health as an International Relations issue; (ii) an overview of the field of health in Mozambique; (iii) an historical-political-conceptual debate about both types of International Cooperation for Development: North-South Cooperation and South-South Cooperation; (iv) a study about the antiretroviral factory, better known as the Mozambican Society of Medicines (Sociedade Moçambicana de Medicamentos). Through a case study, our goal is to verify if the Brazilian actions in Mozambique are in accordance with the concepts defended by the Structural Cooperation in Health, as well as to create new inquiries for academic debate.

Appearances and Realities of Post-War Reconstruction in Mozambique

Abstract: Mozambique is widely promoted on the world stage as a success story. The international community celebrates Mozambique’s success in achieving lasting peace after decades of war; in implementing economic and political reforms; attaining impressive and steady economic growth; and promoting peace, democracy and reform in the region of southern Africa. But what is the reality underlying this shining image of success and post-war reconstruction? This article seeks to expose the stark contrast between the discursive portrayal and celebration of Mozambique’s post-war path towards democracy, growth and development, and the concrete reality of ever-increasing inequality and the rise of systematic corruption and organized crime. The article first presents the dominant portrayal of Mozambique, giving examples from various discursive sites (official reports of international organizations, governmental documents, the media, etc.). The article then turns to explore the reality of Mozambique in the current period, focusing on two definitive aspects of Mozambique’s post-war condition. First, it describes the growing inequality that characterizes Mozambican society today, the ever-growing wealth alongside widespread poverty and social exclusion in both urban and rural areas. It then considers the entrenched culture of corruption and violence that has arisen in the context of neo-liberal reform, exemplified most tragically in the assassination of journalist Carlos Cardoso in 2000. The analysis draws on various sources, including interviews conducted by the author in 1999, official reports and documents, and the media.

Reptiles sold as traditional medicine in Xipamanine and Xiquelene Markets (Maputo, Mozambique)

Zootherapy plays a role in healing practices in Mozambican society. Although several studies have focused on ethnobotany and traditional medicine in the country, little research has been conducted on the use of reptiles in zootherapy. The aim of this study was therefore to fill this gap by assessing the reptile species traded for traditional medicine in the Xipamanine and Xiquelene Markets in Maputo, Mozambique. We found that few reptile species are traded domestically for traditional medicine and that their use appears to be in decline in Mozambique. Our findings also suggest that the domestic trade of reptiles for traditional medicines in Maputo markets is unlikely to have a significant impact on the conservation of reptiles in Mozambique. However, we suggest that international trade with South Africa is likely having a larger impact, given observations of Mozambican nationals selling a diverse range of fauna in urban traditional medicine markets in Johannesburg and Durban.

Autoethnographic interventions and ‘intimate exposures’ in Ricardo Rangel's Portuguese Mozambique

Trained as a photojournalist, Ricardo Rangel (1924–2009) has contributed some of Mozambique's most iconic images, even as many of his colonial-era photographs were banned or destroyed by Portuguese censors. In this article, using the concept of the archive as less a repository than a process, I delve into his photographic collection that, for me, speaks so cogently about Mozambican society during the last years of Portuguese colonialism (1961–1975), both in its representational aspects as well as its ability to generate critical commentary and insight. I focus on three themed sets of his photographs, that I engage with in my writings on Portuguese Mozambique, as a form of ‘auto-ethnographic’ intervention (Ellis, Adams and Bochner 2011; Russell 1999). Framing my discussion of Rangel's images (and imaginary) as a form of ‘intimate exposure’ (Bystrom and Nuttall 2013: 308), I explore photography's potential to suggest the contours of individual lives and experiences on the cusp of colonial independence and which, in turn, can be used to build a Mozambican public–private archive, thus contributing to its collective memory.

Maputo, cidade índica: cidade e vida urbana em <i>Neighbours</i> de Lília Momplé

O propósito deste artigo é analisar a representação da vida urbana maputense presente na novela Neighbours (1995) da escritora moçambicana Lília Momplé. Ao longo do artigo pretendo demonstrar que as várias personagens atribuem significados distintos à cidade. Cenário narrativo de conflitos e diferenças internas à sociedade moçambicana pós-colonial, a cidade é também palco das dinâmicas de circulação e integração de sujeitos e identidades no espaço “inter-regional” do Oceano Índico.