This paper does not presume to offer definitive answers to complex questions raised around the new emphasis on "local communities" in Mozambique. Such answers vary and depend upon the sociopolitical histories of each community. Instead, the paper briefly explores the concept of local community in the lexicon of Mozambican law as well as NGO and donor discourse. This paper argues that a simplified representation of local communities as harmonious and homogeneous units served a useful purpose in the era of postwar reconciliation and reconstruction. Now that local communities have begun a process of empowerment, however, these idealized representations must be broadened to more accurately define and address the issues of community territoriality and community representation. This must be done in such a way so as not to promote political polarization nor exacerbate social inequalities predicated on gender, lineage or other biological characteristics.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by University of Wisconsin-Madison, Land Tenure Center in its series Working Papers with number
12767.