The Conditions of Peasant Organisation : Fragmented Livelihoods and Social Memory in post-Independent Mozambique

Sammanfattning: The thesis is an inquiry into peasants’ collective organisation inMozambique since the country’s Independence in 1975. It brings togetherfour published studies and aims to understand the historical and socioeconomic conditions for different forms of peasant organisation in postIndependence Mozambique. An abductive approach is applied and adialogue between theory, method and the ethnographic material from thetwo northern provinces of Niassa and Nampula runs through the thesis. Thefirst study concludes that peasants’ organisation is hampered by thefragmentation, instability and unpredictability of peasants’ livelihood,leading to a low level of classness. The second study examines the strugglefor the right to land as an exception in terms of a broad-based collectiveorganisation. The third study explores how peasants’ memories of theindependence movement and first years of socialist policies are mobilisedin a critique against current policies. Finally, the fourth study examines thecontinuity of power of the traditional leadership at local level, providinginsights into the local structural conditions for peasants’ collectiveorganisation.Based on the four studies, the thesis suggests the following three mainconditions for peasants’ organisation: First, peasant household livelihood,where fragmentation, instability and unpredictability lead to difficulties toidentify central and enduring interests and conflicts peasants are engagedin, that could be the foundation for their collective organisation. Second, theorganisational structures and positions in peasant societies. In the contextof peasants, already occupied spaced for organisation, repression andhistorical backpack hamper their organisation. Peasants’ issues are capturedat local level by party, civil society and traditional leadership. Peasants arein abundance. And third, the peasants’ consciousness. The thesis concludesthat there is a relatively strong consciousness among peasants with regardto structure, inequalities, as well as formulation of thought, strong senseamong the elderly of peasant way and peasant society.