Mozambique: The politics of a popular uprising

Dr Ruth Castel-Branco (SCIS) will be talking about the unprecedented popular uprising in Mozambique

Dr Ruth Castel-Branco, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies 23rd October, History Workshop Seminar Room (RS207) Last year, young Mozambicans took the streets in an unprecedented popular uprising. Triggered by systemic electoral fraud, corruption and state violence, the protests marked an important turning point in the country’s political landscape. But underneath these grievances lay longstanding frustrations with the government’s resource-driven development model – a model which has yielded economic growth but has ultimately led to rising poverty, inequality and unemployment.

To manage the expectations of increasingly youthful population, the government has attempted to recast the unemployed as budding entrepreneurs. But as the sign of one protester said: “[Being an] MPESA [agent] is not a job”, it is a strategy of last resort. This paper explores what the impact of Mozambique resource-driven development model have been for the conditions of work and social reproduction. It argues that Mozambique’s looming problems cannot be resolved through technocratic fixes such as skills training, start-up incubation, or minimal cash transfers. Whether the political movement led by Venancio Mondlane can transform into a mass movement that can effectively contest the country’s resource-driven development remains an open question. Ruth Castel-Branco is a Senior Lecturer and coordinator of the Future of Work(ers) Research Group at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand. Her research centres on the political economy of work and labour in Southern Africa, emerging forms of worker struggle and organization, and the redistributive role of the state and social policy. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of the Witwatersrand. The online meeting link can be found here.

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