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Processes of State Delegitimization in Post‐independence Rural Mozambique: the case of Namapa District, Nampula Province 1
Author(s) -
Dinerman Alice
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of historical sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.186
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1467-6443
pISSN - 0952-1909
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6443.2004.00229.x
Subject(s) - independence (probability theory) , context (archaeology) , legitimacy , state (computer science) , politics , administration (probate law) , tribute , political science , development economics , economic growth , geography , political economy , public administration , sociology , law , economics , statistics , mathematics , archaeology , algorithm , computer science
This article argues that the first two decades of Mozambican independence witnessed a proliferation of rural claims to access to, and control over, labor, land and tribute and that this trend contributed to the delegitimization of the Frelimo state. Taking Namapa District, Nampula Province as a case study, it shows the ways in which the reinstatement of chiefs as agents of the local administration in 1992 only served to widen the cascade of claims and counterclaims in many localities and, hence, to further undermine the legitimacy of official authority. Under the circumstances, the achievement of a “decentralized despotism” remained an elusive proposition. Processes of local socio‐political change are interpreted within the context of Mozambique's structural adjustment program and its transition to multiparty rule.