Michel Cahen & Domingos M. do Rosário 
The War Within 
New Perspectives on the Civil War in Mozambique, 1976-1992

The 1976-1992 civil war which opposed the Government of Frelimo and the Renamo guerrillas (among other actors) is a central event in the history of Mozambique. Aiming to open up a new era of studies of the war, this book re-evaluates this period from a number of different local perspectives in an attempt to better understand the history, complexity and multiple dynamics of the armed conflict. Focusing at local level on either a province or a single village, the authors analyse the conflict as a ‚total social phenomena‘ involving all elements of society and impacting on every aspect of life across the country. The chapters examine Frelimo and Renamo as well as private, popular and state militias, the Catholic Church, NGOs and traders. Drawing on previously unexamined sources such as local and provincial state archives, religious archives, the guerrilla’s own documentation and interviews, the authors uncoveralternative dimensions of the civil war. The book thus enables a deeper understanding of the conflict and its actors as well as offering an explanatory framework for understanding peacemaking, the nature of contemporary politics, and the current conflict in the country.


Eric Morier-Genoud is a Lecturer in African history at Queen’s University Belfast; Domingos Manuel do Rosário is Lecturer in electoral sociology and electoral governance at Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique; Michel Cahen is a Senior Researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) at Bordeaux Political Studies Institute and at the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction: The Civil War in Mozambique – A history still to be written – Eric Morier-Genoud and Domingos Manuel do Rosário and Michel Cahen

PART 1: IN THE NORTHERN HEART OF THE CIVIL WAR

The Anti-Frelimo Movements and the War in Zambezia – Sérgio Inácio Chichava

War to enforce a political project? Renamo in Nampula Province, 1983-1992 – Domingos Manuel do Rosário

Spiritual power and the dynamics of war in the Provinces of Nampula and Zambézia – Corinna Jentzsch

The War as seen by Renamo: Guerrilla politics and the ‚move to the North‘ at the time of the Nkomati Accord (1983-1985) – Michel Cahen

PART II: IN THE SOUTH – ANOTHER KIND OF WAR?

War in Inhambane: Re-shaping State, Society and Economy – Eric Morier-Genoud

War Accounts from Ilha Josina Machel, Maputo Province – Lily Bunker

Part III: INSIDE OUT: NEW PERSPECTIVES AND THE WORLD-SYSTEM

Mozambique in the 1980s: Periphery goes Postmodern – Georgi Derluguian

Conclusion: New perspectives on the civil war in Mozambique – Eric Morier-Genoud and Michel Cahen and Domingos Manuel do Rosário

Towards a bibliography of the Mozambican Civil War – Eric Morier-Genoud and Michel Cahen and Domingos Manuel do Rosário