Plurality of Religion, Plurality of Justice
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Plurality of religion, plurality of justice African Studies Centre African Studies Collection, vol. 28 Plurality of religion, plurality of justice Exploring the role of religion in disputing processes in Gorongosa, Central Mozambique Carolien Jacobs African Studies Centre P.O. Box 9555 2300 RB Leiden The Netherlands [email protected] http://www.ascleiden.nl Cover design: Heike Slingerland Photographs: Carolien Jacobs Printed by Ipskamp Drukkers, Enschede ISSN: 1876-018X ISBN: 978-90-5448-099-0 © Carolien Jacobs, 2010 Contents List of tables and figures vii Acknowledgements viii 1. INTRODUCTION: RELIGION AND DISPUTING 1 Central question 2 The concept of religion 4 Approaching religion in the field 9 The context of legal pluralism 14 Disputing 16 Religion in the disputing process 19 Introduction to the field of Mozambique 23 Structure of the book 31 2. A HISTORY OF MOZAMBIQUE, A HISTORY OF GORONGOSA 34 Early history 34 Intensifying colonisation 40 Defending a colony 44 Independence and civil war 55 Post-war reconstruction 63 3. IN SEARCH OF SPIRITUAL SECURITY IN A CHANGING WORLD 70 Changing society, changing beliefs 73 Converting or entangling? 88 Conclusion 94 4. NAVIGATING THROUGH A LANDSCAPE OF POWERS OR GETTING LOST ON MOUNT GORONGOSA 97 Mount Gorongosa: Locating a landscape of powers 100 Conclusion: Getting lost or finding the way? 117 5. CONFLICT MEDIATION BY SPIRIT MEDIUMS AND PASTORS 120 Dispute management by spirit mediums 121 Christian-oriented dispute management 146 Conclusion 155 v 6. SPIRITS AT THE POLICE STATION AND THE DISTRICT COURT 159 The Gorongosa district police station 161 Spirits at the district court 173 Conclusion 180 7. RELIGION IN HYBRID ROOMS OF DISPUTING 182 Semi-state: Neighbourhood secretary and community courts 184 Régulos 198 Conclusion 204 8. JUSTICE ‘WITH ONE’S OWN HANDS AND HOW TO RESPOND 207 In search of justice and social control 207 Responses of the state 213 Responses of the religious leaders 218 Conclusion 224 9. CONCLUSION: PLURALITY OF RELIGION, PLURALITY OF JUSTICE 228 ‘We don’t have war on religions; there is easiness of dialogue’ 228 ‘Pano ndi mesmo para julgamento’ 230 ‘Utongi ndi pano’ 231 Different modes of disputing 232 What can cooperation bring? 233 Plurality of religion, plurality of justice 234 What can we learn from this? 235 Annex 236 References 238 vi List of tables and figures Tables 1.1 Adherence to religious belief in Sofala 24 A.1 Broad overview of important events in Mozambican history subdivided in four different spheres (socio-political context, religion, legislation and Gorongosa) 236 Figures 1.1 Map of Mozambique 25 1.2 Conflict mediation by a spirit medium 30 2.1 Pastor Alberto and his wife 55 2.2 Legal plurality in Mozambique 65 2.3 The Catholic Church in Gorongosa Town 68 3.1 Mr. Albino Roque with some of his grandchildren 72 3.2 A video club 83 3.3 Rosa Albino Roque 84 4.1 Map of the National Park and the mountain area 100 4.2 Mount Gorongosa viewed from the east side 105 5.1 Set-up of divining seeds and a mirror during a consultation 134 5.2 Video screens 138 6.1 The district court of Gorongosa 175 6.2 The president of the court, flanked by two lay-judges 178 7.1 The judges of the community court of Tsuassicana neighbourhood 189 7.2 Régulo Tambarara 197 7.3 Hearing at a community court 197 vii Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible without the support of many. First of all, I would like to thank Profs. Franz and Keebet von Benda-Beckmann for giving me the opportunity to become a PhD-candidate within their project group on legal pluralism at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology. I am grateful for all the knowledge you shared with me and for giving me the con- fidence I could make it. The Max Planck Society provided me with a generous grant over the last years. I realise it is a privilege for a student not having to worry about making budgetary ends meet when doing fieldwork or going to conferences. The Law and Governance chair group accepted me as an external PhD-candidate. It feels good to return to Wageningen for my defence. Thanks to the African Studies Centre in Leiden for accepting my thesis for publication. In Mozambique, I am most indebted to the people in Gorongosa district who gave me insights in their lives, even at difficult moments when they were strug- gling with conflicts. A special thanks to Silverio, the judges of Tsuassicana court, the police officers, and the district court staff for frequently accepting me within their working space. Thanks to my field assistants Gabriel, Fabião and Americo. Gabriel, I am really happy you took the step together with Cecilia to visit me when I had just arrived in Gorongosa. Laura, it was great to share a house with you and enjoy our improvised meals! Thanks to Baptista for always being around. I still miss hearing the voices of your children at the veranda. In Vunduzi, tio Paulo and Pastor Pita and his family were very welcoming and provided me a home. Both the district administration in Gorongosa and the administration in Vunduzi have been supportive. The staff of Food for the Hungry in both Gorongosa and Beira was always helpful. Nick, I don’t want to think about what would have happened if you hadn’t been around to give me a ride to the hospital in Beira when I got sick. Adriaan, thanks for staying with me in the hospital during the operation and in the first hours afterwards. It was good to have a compatriot around to call my family. Whenever I went to Beira, the mission post of Inhamizua was a comfortable home where I could take some distance from the field and reflect on my findings. Many thanks to Padre Pinho. I really enjoyed our talks, whether it was about Mozambican politics, Habermas, or PSV. Padre Fernando taught me not only basic language skills in Chi-Sena but also his love for the language. Padre Nor- berto, Rosa and Jaime gave me insights in the functioning of JustiçaPaz. In viii Maputo, I talked to many NGO-people who showed great interest in my research. That was encouraging. Coming from Gorongosa, city-life was often overwhelm- ing, but I could always count on a warm welcome by Mãe Beatriz and Nina in their house in Zimpeto. Thanks to Tchaly for arranging this for me. While I was in Mozambique, I was affiliated to the Centro de Formação Jurídica e Judiciária in Matola. I would like to especially thank Sergio Baleira and Saturnino Samo for their support. Teresa Cruz e Silva and many others of the Centro de Estudos Afri- canos gave me helpful comments. Thanks for that. Back from the field, I visited several conferences where I received helpful comments from many people. Thanks to the attendants in Leipzig, Zurich, Trond- heim, Maputo, Heidelberg! Many people have read and commented on draft versions of chapters in this dissertation. Thanks to Eric Morier-Genoud, Steve Reyna, Marja Spierenburg, Linda van de Kamp, Bjørn Bertelsen, and Christy Schuetze for giving informed comments on my writings. Furthermore, I would like to thank my colleagues of the legal pluralism colloquium; Ida, Silja, Severin and Larissa for careful reading and the other colleagues of the group. Bert and Jutta, thanks for sharing your ability to put things in perspective. Jutta, thanks for the cartography. Thanks to Nat and Mama-Aye for great language editing, and to Sarah for the last bit. Gesine, thanks a lot for your assistance whenever it was needed. Thanks to Teresa for helping me out with the Portuguese summary! Many people have supported me over the last years and shown their interest in what I was doing. Thanks to all my friends from the Netherlands who took the effort to come and visit me in Halle; all my former housemates at Carol’s Para- dise, Andrea and Jan Willem, Kees, Neeltje, Truus, my parents, and Tom! I really appreciated it. In Halle, I would like to thank many colleagues who have become friends. Thanks especially to Nat for sharing his enduring optimism, to Ogato for encouraging phone calls in the morning, and to Larissa and Agnieszka for literally keeping me running. Thanks to Tom’s colleagues in Neuchatel who always gave me a warm welcome whenever I was around. This thesis would not have been possible without the support and encourage- ment of my family. Thanks to my parents for giving me the freedom to choose my own path in life and thanks for having visited me in Mozambique. It was really nice to show you parts of my Mozambican life. Judith and Bram, thanks for being my sister and brother. Judith, you’re the most faithful e-mail replier! Tom, even though distance often separates us, you are always there for me. Thanks for endless phone calls, for train trips to Halle, for pancakes, encourage- ments and much more! ix 1 Introduction: Religion and disputing It was a rainy day in the beginning of December 2007 when an accident hap- pened on the muddy road between Gorongosa town and Vunduzi in a rural district in central Mozambique. On a curve of a slippery slope, a pick-up truck hit an upcoming motor bike coming from the opposite direction. The motor bike rider was life-threatening wounded. It was soon rumoured however that the actual ‘target’ of the incident had not been the motor driver, but the car driver. The latter’s wife had died two months earlier under what were considered sus- picious circumstances.