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MACAGNO, Lorenzo Macagno. Multiculturalism in Mozambique? Reflections from the field. in: Vibrant – Virtual Brazilian Anthropology, v. 5, n. 2. July to December 2008. Brasília, ABA. Available at http://www.vibrant.org.br/issues/v5n2/lorenzo-macagno-multiculturalism-in-mozambique/

Abstract

This article reflects on the identity dilemmas in contemporary Mozambique resulting from the colonial policies of “assimilation” and the policies of the “socialist” State. From the second half of the 1990s, with the end of the civil war and as a consequence of the new process of democratization, Mozambique was forced to face new challenges arising from its condition as a “plural” nation. Based on this specific social and political context, this article locates the discussion on so-called multiculturalism within a particular territory, and based on field work carried out in that country, analyzes the limits and scopes of this debate. Finally, the author focuses briefly on the possible analogies – “South-South” – between the challenges inherent to the Mozambican case and the debates which, in Brazil, have intensifiedfollowing the implementation of the so-called “policies of affirmative action” in public institutions of higher education.

Keywords: Mozambique, multiculturalism, identity dilemmas.