Public Distrust and Political Contestation in Mozambique
Author
De Ornelas Goncalves, Matilde
Term
4. semester
Education
Publication year
2026
Abstract
This thesis investigates how colonial rule and decolonization have shaped governance and political continuity in Mozambique after independence. The aim is to understand how these long-term historical processes contributed to later public distrust and political conflict. The study is based on a historically grounded qualitative case study using document analysis. It traces the connections between colonial state structures, the transfer of power at independence, postcolonial state formation, and the emergence of contested political legitimacy in the post-war period. The main theoretical framework is postcolonial state formation, meaning how states are built and organized after colonial rule. This is supported by the concepts of coloniality (ongoing colonial patterns after formal independence) and legitimacy/authority as additional lenses. The thesis argues that independence did not fundamentally change the institutional logics through which power was organized, but largely shifted control over a centralized and unevenly rooted state to a new ruling elite. Both colonial legacies and the organizational logic of armed liberation shaped the framework of Mozambique’s post-independence order. Together, they contributed to strong party rule, selective inclusion of citizens, and fragile political legitimacy over time. Public distrust and political contestation are therefore understood as historically grounded responses to a postcolonial political order marked by continuity, concentration of power, and persistent exclusion of certain groups.
Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan kolonistyre og afkolonisering har påvirket Mozambiques styreform og politiske kontinuitet efter uafhængigheden. Målet er at forstå, hvordan disse lange historiske processer har bidraget til senere offentlig mistillid og politisk konflikt. Afhandlingen bygger på et kvalitativt casestudie forankret i historien og baseret på dokumentanalyse. Den følger sammenhængen mellem koloniale statsstrukturer, magtoverdragelsen ved uafhængighed, opbygningen af den postkoloniale stat og fremvæksten af omstridt politisk legitimitet efter borgerkrigen. Teoretisk tager analysen udgangspunkt i postkolonial statsdannelse – altså hvordan stater formes efter kolonitiden – og inddrager begreberne kolonialitet (fortsatte koloniale mønstre efter formel uafhængighed) samt legitimitet og autoritet som supplerende perspektiver. Afhandlingen argumenterer for, at uafhængigheden ikke grundlæggende ændrede de institutionelle logikker, som magt var organiseret efter, men i høj grad blot overførte kontrollen over en centraliseret og ujævnt forankret stat til en ny regerende elite. Både de koloniale arvemønstre og den væbnede befrielsesbevæges organisering har formet rammerne for Mozambiques postkoloniale orden. Begge dele har bidraget til stærk partistyret politik, selektiv inddragelse af borgere og en skrøbelig politisk legitimitet over tid. Offentlig mistillid og politisk konflikt forstås derfor som historisk forankrede reaktioner på en postkolonial politisk orden præget af kontinuitet, magtkoncentration og vedvarende udelukkelse af visse grupper.
[This abstract has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]