Manuel, Sandra (2014) Maputo has no marriage material: sexual relationships inthe politics of social affirmation and emotional stabilityamongst cosmopolitans in an African city. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/18451

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MAPUTO HAS NO MARRIAGE MATERIAL:

SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS IN THE POLITICS OF SOCIAL AFFIRMATION

AND EMOTIONAL STABILITY AMONGST COSMOPOLITANS IN AN

AFRICAN CITY

Sandra Manuel

Department of Anthropology and Sociology School of Oriental and African Studies University of London

Thesis presented to the University of London for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

April 2014

DECLARATION

I certify that this thesis and the work presented in it are my own work and that they have been generated by me as the result of my own original research. References to other people’s work have been indicated throughout.

The copyright of the thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without the author’s prior written consent.

Signed:

Date: 9th April 2014

i ABSTRACT

This study explores the dynamics of sexuality amongst relatively wealthier urban young adults in the capital of Mozambique, Maputo. How class works in shaping sexuality and gender dynamics constitute some of the questions tackled here. Such questions have not received much attention on studies regarding these topics in the African continent. Based on 15 months of fieldwork, the thesis analyses how young adults use sexuality to give a sense of self and personhood in a context marked by rapid transformations occurring in the country intertwined with the legacy of colonialism, socialism, civil war and liberalisation of the economy. Tactical agency emerges as a critical concept to explain the ways in which both men and women manoeuvre to reach emotional stability and social recognition in the city.

Questions of identity, which are negotiated in regards to diverse modernities and African heritage, are at the core of radical contradictions that characterise the everyday dynamics, expectations of young cosmopolitans in the city. Amongst young adults there is a constant (re-)shaping of perceptions and ways of living femininities and masculinities. These are fuelled by internal logics of sexual and intimate relationships as well as the management of emotions within them. However, class and its dispositions permeate these processes. Marriage is the key means to socially recognized adulthood however; the process towards it is perilous as it involves a constant negotiation of expectations. Finally, love emerges as a space of catharsis in which individuals feel at ease and distant from social pressures and the desire to ‘fit in’. Paradoxically it is a space of stress it is perceived as a source of profound unhappiness when things go wrong.

ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many people and institutions have played an essential role in this research. Many thanks must go to the interlocutors in Maputo who shared their stories and practices with me, thus allowing me to conduct my analyses. More than informants, they became friends who contributed to transforming this research experience into an exciting and, at times, amusing one. For reasons of safety and privacy, their names will not be listed here. I hope that these people will have fond memories of our conversations and the time we spent together.

My gratitude goes to my supervisors, Christopher Davis and Harry West. Kit, thank you for offering me intellectually challenging conversations and sharing your academic experience at the tables of Costa Coffee in the Waterstones bookshop. Harry, I am grateful for your constant questioning about the realities of life in Mozambique. I benefited immensely from your perspectives.

I am also indebted to the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan and the British Council for the financial support I received, which enabled me to undertake my PhD at the School of Oriental and African Studies.

The arguments in this thesis were built in response to debates, ideas and inspiration from a number of academics and colleagues. I would like to thank Emidio Gune, Adriano Biza, Euclides Gonçalves, Hélder Nhamaze, Celso Inguane, Patricio Langa, Antonie Kraemer, Julie Soleil Archambault, Gabriel Klaeger, Willa Zhen, Gonzalo Pozo, Jason Sumich, Jessica Dionne, Signe Arnfred, Alcinda Honwana, John Hanlon, Teresa Smart, Teresa Cruz e Silva, Valdemir Zamparoni, Suely Messeder, Brigitte Bagnol, Esmeralda Mariano and Linda van de Kamp. Your expertise, time, interest and openness to sharing ideas were greatly appreciated!

iii Most of this thesis was written within the convivial atmosphere of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). I express my gratitude to the senior staff, PhD students and support staff of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology. My work has been greatly enriched by the contributions received from the various seminars promoted by the department and from many other academic activities at SOAS. I am also appreciative of my fellow colleagues in computer room 301 for their camaraderie in the arduous process of writing. I am also thankful to the Department of Archeology and Anthropology at Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, and especially the Head of Department, Alexandre Mate, for all the support given in the different stages of my research. The comments and critiques of my examiners after the Viva have pointed to dimensions of my argument that I was not completely aware of. Thank you Sophie Day and Mattia Fumanti for your critical views that will definitely be stuck on my mind as I prepare articles and a future publication of this material.

My parents and my sisters have played an invaluable role supporting me, keeping me inspired, and sending affection and Mozambican delicacies to reduce my home- sickness. My appreciation also goes to my Mozambican friends in London and to my friends from all over the world who helped make this lonely journey more pleasant.

I am immensely grateful to my husband Hélder Nhamaze who has supported me throughout this journey with kind words, advice, conversations, making contacts on my behalf and making sure that I would have a reason to smile every day. Our own trajectory as a couple has played a vital role in my understanding of romantic and sexual relationships in Maputo. We have finally reached the end of the ups and downs of the PhD student´s life and I will now embark on a new adventure with you.

iv TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ...... i

ABSTRACT ...... ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... v

GLOSSARY ...... viii

LIST OF ACRONYMS ...... ix

INTRODUCTION ...... 1

0.1 The anthropological location of the study ...... 3

0.2 African sexualities ...... 11

0.3 Relating class to gender and sexuality ...... 13

0.4 Urban, hip with a swagger ...... 17

0.5 Methods ...... 21

0.6 Ethics ...... 25

0.7 Subjectivities of the ethnographer ...... 27

0.8 Structure of the thesis ...... 28

PART I: SETTING THE SCENE FOR UNDERSTANDING CONTEMPORARY URBAN SEXUALITY IN MAPUTO ...... 31

CHAPTER 1: AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN MAPUTO ...... 32

1.1 Colonial Lourenço Marques ...... 32

1.2 Independent Maputo city ...... 35

1.3 Post-socialist Maputo city ...... 37

1.4 The lieu of the young adults of this study in the social stratification debates 39

v CHAPTER 2: THE HISTORY OF SEXUALITY IN MOZAMBIQUE ...... 52

2.1 The dichotomies of the colonial legacy ...... 53

2.2 The liberation struggle and post-independence Socialism ...... 57

2.3 Neo-liberal and donor-dominated Mozambique ...... 61

CHAPTER 3: THE CONCEPT OF YOUTH ...... 66

3.1 A paradoxical reading of youth ...... 66

3.2 Understanding youth in Africa ...... 69

3.3 Youth in Mozambique and the cosmopolitan youths of this study ...... 73

PART II: A SNAPSHOT ANALYSIS OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN YOUTH COSMOPOLITANS ...... 90

CHAPTER 4: WHAT IS SEX? SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS AND SOCIAL NETWORKS ...... 91

4.1 Private sex and its public texture ...... 91

4.2 The process of normalisation of the sexual appetite ...... 97

4.3 Relationships in the landscape of the normalised sexual appetite ...... 108

4.4 Caught up in a dilemma: ‘Traditional’ men – ‘Modern’ women ...... 120

4.5 Revolutionary monogamy ...... 127

4.6 Good sex, contemporariness, cosmopolitanism and the search for a steady partner ...... 128

CHAPTER 5: STATUS, RELATIONSHIPS AND THE AESTHETICS OF GENDERED PRACTICE ...... 136

5.1 Gender identities and the definition of one’s social status ...... 139

5.2 An overview of diversity in femininities and masculinities ...... 141

5.3 Affectionate husband with lovers ...... 144

5.4 Free spirited and uncompromised ...... 146

vi 5.5 House femininity ...... 147

5.6 Home femininity ...... 152

5.7 Gender differences highlighted through internal politics of relationships .. 154

5.8 The reproduction of gendered class positions in the public-private debate 160

CHAPTER 6: MARRIAGE ...... 165

6.1 The web of intimate relations ...... 165

6.2 Namoro’s intimacy: Rules and stepping stones to marriage ...... 170

6.3 Marriage: A quest for adulthood and emotional stability ...... 174

6.4 Agency and control in the context of marriage ...... 182

6.5 Class and marriage ...... 186

6.6 Marriage ceremonies ...... 188

CHAPTER 7: WHAT´S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT ...... 193

7.1 Love as a space for catharsis ...... 193

7.2 Love and philosophies of love ...... 196

7.3 Personhood and social judgement in times of emotional crisis ...... 200

7.4 Love as a political stand ...... 206

CONCLUSION ...... 208

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 215

vii GLOSSARY

barraca: small outdoor kiosk and bar capulana: colourful sarong commonly wore by women as a skirt chular: take advantage of someone lobolo: bride-wealth Metical or Mt: Mozambican currency namorar: to date namorada or namorado: steady girlfriend or boyfriend tchilar: to enjoy, to relax xitique: informal rotated saving and credit arrangement

viii LIST OF ACRONYMS

CCCS Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at the University of Birmingham FRELIMO Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (Mozambique Liberation Front) NGO Non-Governmental Organisation RENAMO Resistência Nacional Moçambicana (Mozambique National Resistance or MNR) PRE Programa de Restruturação Economica (Structural Adjustment Program SAP)

ix INTRODUCTION

This study examines the interconnection between class and sexuality in a post- colonial, post-socialist and post-civil war city. The research is done among young elite and middle class men and women in Maputo. The analysis explores, more specifically, the reconfiguration of sexuality and gender in the context of social, cultural and economic transformation.

The landscape of