Rethinking the Frelimo State

Abstract

The sad trajectory of the Mozambican revolution has been devastating, almost beyond words, for Mozambicans. It has also been a sobering experience for those of us who have, over the years, supported - and sought to interpret - Frelimo's progressive development project in that country. 'Frelimo's progressive development project'? It is a sign of the times that there seems to be something distinctly old-fashioned about even phrasing the issue in these terms. 'Development project'? A misguided expression of modernist arrogance, surely. 'Progressive'? Scepticism about the appropriateness of 'socialist solutions' is so rife (even on much of the left) that this term, too, seems highly suspect. And what about 'Frelimo' itself? This is, apparently, the most suspect variable of all - to judge from much of the current writing about Mozambique.