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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Women in Mozambique: Gender Struggle Gender Politics
Author:Arnfred, SigneISNI
Year:1988
Periodical:Review of African Political Economy
Volume:15
Issue:41
Period:September
Pages:5-16
Language:English
Geographic term:Mozambique
Subjects:feminism
Women's Issues
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Politics and Government
Cultural Roles
Marital Relations and Nuptiality
Sex Roles
Status of Women
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056248808703759
Abstract:Once independence was achieved in Mozambique, Frelimo became preoccupied with establishing and building its authority and that of the State. In this process, Frelimo and the Mozambique Women's Organisation (OMM) misconceived both the position of women in the different societies of Mozambique and failed to develop an adequate strategy for women's emancipation. The socialist project of women's emancipation is a project of modernization and the involvement of women in production. The former task often amounts to a tacit support for male power; the latter is largely beside the point of the Mozambican context. As a result the OMM and Frelimo have alienated some women, especially those mobilized in the war, as the author's interviews in Mueda, Cabo Delgado, indicate. Women have turned to 'defensive gender struggles', notably the revival of initiation rituals which the author interprets as providing 'free space for the women'. Women are also aware of the limitations of this strategy and of the need for 'offensive gender struggles' to claim new rights. Such struggles are illustrated in the Maputo Green Zone agricultural cooperatives, almost all of whose members are women. Ref.
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