Transforming Mozambique

Abstract

Many of the economic transformations in Africa have been as dramatic as those in Eastern Europe. Yet much of the comparative literature on transitions has overlooked African countries. This 2002 study of Mozambique's shift from a command to a market economy draws on a wealth of empirical material, including archival sources, interviews, political posters and corporate advertisements, to reveal that the state is a central actor in the reform process, despite the claims of neo-liberals and their critics. Alongside the state, social forces - from World Bank officials to rural smallholders - have also accelerated, thwarted or shaped change in Mozambique. M. Anne Pitcher offers an intriguing analysis of the dynamic interaction between previous and emerging agents, ideas and institutions, to explain the erosion of socialism and the politics of privatization in a developing country. She demonstrates that Mozambique's political economy is a heterogenous blend of ideological and institutional continuities and ruptures.

Institutional legacies and HRM: similarities and differences in HRM practices in Portugal and Mozambique

“…In terms of these findings' relevance for institutional theory, on the one hand, it could be argued that the common ground reflects abiding institutional legacies, with the modernization of institutions and economic life that took place in late colonial Mozambique leading to convergence with the key dimensions of the Portuguese model. As Pitcher (2002) notes, key features of Mozambican governance and society proved quite resilient despite independence, civil war and later neo-liberal reforms; it is as yet uncertain as to whether the 2008 economic crisis will have similarly limited effects on Portuguese institutions, although initial evidence suggests that marketization has, once more, gone hand-in-hand with structural continuities (Carneiro, Portugal, & Varejão, 2014). On the other hand, our findings may reflect practices that are relatively common amongst a broad range of firms operating within evolving institutional contexts.…”

Strengthening Threatened Communities through Adaptation: Insights from Coastal Mozambique

“…In 1987, the nation began the transition from socialism to capitalism under the direction of the International Monetary Fund's structural adjustment programs. This period was characterized by the sale of state assets to private buyers and the removal of statecontrolled markets (Pitcher 2002). Economic liberalization led to the abolition of the extensive fishing cooperatives along the coast and to the erosion of living conditions in many fishing communities (Menezes et al 2009).…”

Domestic interests and control regimes

“…Writing about Mozambique, Pitcher (2002) notes similar patterns. In the southern portion of Mozambique, the formation of communal villages so disrupted production that shortages of food and high prices for farm products became painfully common in the port cities and national capital, even while the welfare of the peasantry declined (see also Bowen 2000).…”

“…RENAMO could successfully operate in the rural areas because it drew logistical support from abroad. What support many peasants could give, however, they did give, and FRELIMO, the governing party, faced the prospect of losing their political allegiance, given its insistence on measures that the peasants opposed (Schultz 1976;Hall and Young 1997;Pitcher 2002). One reason that FRELIMO relaxed and then abandoned its commitment to villagization was that the policies fueled support for RENAMO, its political rival.…”