Performing citizenship - challenging norms? : a case of study of young women's lived experiences of citizenship in Maputo, Mozambique

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Performing Citizenship – Challenging Norms?

A Case Study of Young Women’s Lived Experiences

of Citizenship in Maputo, Mozambique

Master’s Thesis: Pauline Börschel

Research Master International Development Studies

Graduate School of Social Sciences

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University of Amsterdam

Graduate School of Social Sciences

RMSc International Development Studies

Master of Science Thesis

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Performing Citizenship – Challenging Norms?

A Case Study of Young Women’s Lived Experiences of Citizenship in

Maputo, Mozambique

30.06.2019

Pauline Börschel

11688941

pauline_boerschel@web.de

Supervisor: Dr. Esther Miedema

Second Reader: Marielle le Mat

Word Count: 29547

1_{The picture on the cover shows a market stall selling “capulanas”, the typical colorful fabric used in a multitude of ways,}

e.g. for carrying children, as a skirt, as an underlay for sitting down. Picture from: https://dissolve.com/stock-photo/Casa-Elefante-famous-shop-central-Maputo-where-they-sell-rights-managed-image/102-D869-81-042

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Acknowledgements

I would firstly like to thank Dr. Esther Miedema for her continued support and guidance during the research process – her insights, from tips for when in the field to advice on the write-up were invaluable and her shared passion for Mozambique made the research-process much more fun. Moreover, I would like to thank Marielle le Mat, for taking up the role of being my second reader.

During my fieldwork in Maputo many people have given me great support, to whom I would like to convey my genuine gratitude. First and foremost, I wish to thank all my participants for their time, their views and their inspiration. I would like to express my thanks to the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Maputo, who not only gave me a desk and a warmly working atmosphere but also introduced me to many interesting people. A special thanks to Tina and Brenda, two inspiring and passionate women.

I also want to thank my fellow IDS-companions, especially Katharina and Mila, for sharing this experience alongside me, for their open ear and support at all times and the shared Yoga-lessons and beers that made the ups and downs of the Master an even greater experience. Lastly, these two years of Master-madness would barely have been possible without the never-ending trust and support of my parents and Marius. Thanks for listening to all my worries, ideas and thoughts, for reassuring me but also for letting me know that life goes on next to IDS as well.

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Abstract

A functioning democracy with democratic citizens is a widely pursued development goal. Despite its supposedly universal nature however, citizenship constitutes a contested concept, which is constantly (re-)negotiated and subject to political struggles. Research on lived experiences of citizenship is limited particularly in the Global South, a gap in knowledge this research seeks to address. While literature has addressed factors that impede the exercise of citizenship there is a dearth of scholarship on how certain groups are able to enact their citizenship within existing norms. This research asks how female youth in Maputo, Mozambique, understand and perform citizenship. Additionally, it examines what enables young women to enact their citizenship and whether their citizenship-performances challenge existing norms. Based on five months of fieldwork and data gathered through interviews, participant-observation and a survey, the research shows that citizenship is part of female youths’ vocabulary even though it is understood less as a state-citizen relationship but in terms of constructive social participation. This translates into performances of citizenship that entail more day-to-day actions and take over state-responsibilities. Many young women face numerous challenges in their citizenship-performances that relate to existing restrictive norms. However, they can partly overcome these barriers by, among other things, drawing on supportive social relations and using various strategies to navigate norms, such as strengthening their social capital through aspiring new friendships with like-minded people. The way in which female youth perform citizenship allows them to challenge existing norms. Based on the findings, the thesis concludes that citizenship is meaningful even in contexts of an absent state, as alternative strategies of conceiving, performing and navigating citizenship emerge, and individuals and groups find ways to challenge exclusionary norms. While addressing structural constraints that undermine young women’s citizenship, the study also reveals the agency they have. Hence the concept of neutral, universal citizenship is troubled while citizenship’s emancipatory potential is acknowledged. The thesis concludes by offering a series of recommendations for policy and practice, that were derived from the research’s findings and conclusions, such as the importance of holistically looking at young women’s lived experiences of citizenship when developing programs aiming to promote citizenship-education.

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List of Tables

Table 1 Overview of organizations that research participants were part of ... 26

Table 2 Overview Gender Norms ... 36

Table 3 Overview Youth Norms ... 38

Table 4 Characteristics 'Good' vs ‘Bad Citizen’ Juxtaposed ... 49

Table 5 Characteristics 'Good' vs ‘Bad Citizen’ Others ... 49

Table 6 Overview Citizen Rights and Duties ... 52

Table 7 Performances of Citizenship ... 57

Table 8 Contributing and Participating Actively ... 57

Table 9 Overview of Reported Acts of Citizenship and their Prevalence (N=52) ... 58

List of Figures

Figure 1 Conceptual Scheme ... 12

Figure 2 Map showing Mozambique and neighbouring countries ... 15

Figure 3 Young Women’s Understandings of Citizenship in Maputo ... 56

List of Abbreviations and Acronyms

AU – African Union

CSO – Civil Society Organization FES – Friedrich Ebert Stiftung

Frelimo – Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (Mozambique Liberation Front) IYF – International Youth Foundation

Renamo – Resistência Nacional Moçambicana (Mozambican National Resistance) MoEC – Ministry of Education and Culture

NGO – Non-Governmental Organization ODA – Official Development Aid

UN – United Nations

UNDP – United Nations Development Program WB – World Bank

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1 Introduction

1.1 Citizenship and Development

A functioning and ‘good’ democracy is one of the most widely pursued goals of development (UNDP 2002). The word democracy has its origins in the Greek ‘demokratia’, meaning rule of the people. Democratic citizens therefore are a cornerstone of free and just societies and the concept of citizenship is closely entwined with many development goals (Warren 2013).

In their review of literature on Concepts of Citizenship, Jones and Gaventa date the rise of citizenship as a topic of debate within development studies back to the 1990s (2002:1). The growing importance given to topics such as political participation, participatory development, the inclusion of marginalized groups as well ‘good governance’ and a ‘rights-based-approach’ to development favored the growing popularity of citizenship as a concept (ibid.:1f). Since then, within the field of development studies, much research has been done on citizenship participation (Cornwall and Gaventa 2000), civic identity (Seidman 1999), or the relation between citizenship and the nation-state (Ellison 1997). However, despite citizenship’s growing popularity in scholarly debate, many researches are aware that “for many people citizenship is, in practice, a hollow and meaningless idea (Heater 1999:3). Often “very little is known about how people understand themselves as citizens” (Jones and Gaventa 2002:5).

1.2 Controversies around Citizenship

Despite citizenship’s supposedly universal nature, ample controversy on matters such as who is in- and who is excluded from citizenship, what constitutes a good citizen, how citizens become democratic and active, and who gets to be an active citizen, exist. Citizenship constitutes a contested concept, which is constantly (re-)negotiated and subject to political struggles. The honorable intentions associated with citizenship – to provide the same set of rights to every citizen and therefore to promote equality – are often not as straight-forward in practice.

Qualitative differences in the lived experiences of citizenship exist and not all citizens are in the position to claim their rights and act as citizens (Wood 2014:579). Citizenship does not provide the same privileges and opportunities to everyone and therefore portrays exclusionary tendencies. This exclusionary nature has been identified in relation to women and citizenship as well as youth and citizenship (Voet 1995). However, also groups and individuals that are supposedly excluded from citizenship often very successfully ‘perform’ or enact their citizenship and actively claim their rights. Hence, the question arises which structures and capabilities enable them to do so.

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2 Performances of citizenship and what enables certain groups to become active citizens is of specific relevance in Mozambique, a country in which unequal gender relations persist and youth find themselves in a period of ‘waithood’, unable to fully transition into adulthood (Honwana 2014). Citizens’ rights and freedoms continue to be limited, and despite progressive laws that guarantee women’s and youth’s citizenship and participation on paper, both groups continue to be marginalized. Lorch and Bunk illustrate that “discriminatory social norms, violence, sexual harassment, and the violation of women’s land rights continue to be widespread problems” (2016:21).

Female youth appear to be doubly affected by the constraints of a state of ‘waithood’ on the one side and a patriarchal culture on the other side, that impede their participation as full citizens in society. Hence, an analysis of how young women become active citizens and renegotiate understandings of citizenship, gender and youth is of particular interest in the context of Mozambique. Even though the focus on young women poses the risk to perpetuate gender-binaries, it is used in this research as gender still has a very real effect on the experiences of many women and men. As Maputo is not only the country’s economic but also political capital, young people in Maputo have on several occasion visibly criticized the state, for example in protests against the increase in prices of basic staples in 2010 (Honwana 2014:12). Furthermore, many youth and other activist groups are based in Maputo, which is why the research took place there.

1.3 Problem and Purpose Statement

A ‘veil of universalism and equality’ disguises citizenship’s exclusionary biases and the different capabilities and opportunities people have to engage in political, social and civic activities (Voet 1995:263f). An understanding of citizenship both as rights and practice results in the necessity to find answers to the question how all citizens will be able to participate equally (Arnot 1997:278) and to illustrate the exclusionary role that citizenship has in creating non or partial citizens (Lister 1997b:36). Research on lived experiences of citizenship is limited and there are important gaps related to people’s own experiences of citizenship, which structures and norms shape these experiences and how they negotiate citizenship. Research that has been done often focuses on factors that impede the exercise of citizenship (Arnot and Swartz 2012; Bellino 2018; Fokwang 2005; Wood 2014), rather than on understanding how certain groups are able to enact their citizenship within existing potentially restrictive normative frameworks. Therefore, by examining how young women that, particularly in public and political domains, often continue to be marginalized successfully perform their citizenship and challenge existing norms, this research seeks to offer another angle to the debate.

Adding to the academic relevance of this study, the social relevance of how the research aims to understand what enables young women to perform citizenship and how they challenge existing norms, is not to be understated. By engaging with such issues, I hope to contribute to a wider understanding

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3 of the meanings, performances and negotiations around citizenship and norms young women experience. By shining light on the struggles of young women but also on their agency, this research provides valuable insights for programs aiming to bring about social change or to empower young women.

Using the case study of Maputo, Mozambique, the research aims to gain an understanding of what citizenship means to young women, what enables young women to perform their citizenship and how they do so and how they navigate existing norms within their performances. To this end, fieldwork was conducted in Maputo, Mozambique’s capital from August until December 2018 using mostly qualitative methods to answer the present research-questions. The intended audience of the research are fellow researchers as well as NGOs, CSOs or schools that strive to promote citizenship-participation.

1.4 Thesis Outline

This thesis is divided into seven chapters, the first of which has introduced citizenship as a subject of study and the relevance and motivations behind the research. The second chapter presents the theoretical framework of this research, engaging with notions of youth as well as citizenship and how to research ‘lived experiences of citizenship ‘. Chapter three provides the reader an overview of the local context in which the study took place. The fourth chapter introduces the research design and research methods, including a definition of the research questions and how these were answered from data collected in the field. It further reflects on quality, limitations and ethical dilemmas that arose during the fieldwork. The chapters five and six present the empirical data and findings from the field. Chapter five depicts the context in which citizenship is performed – norms the young women experience and capitals they posses. Chapter six discusses the findings related to understandings and performances of citizenship and what strategies participants use to navigate existing norms. In the final chapter seven, the main research question is answered by bringing empirical findings into discussion with theory and existing literature, with a purpose of drafting policy and research recommendations on how to engage with citizenship in the future.

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2 Theoretical Framework

2.1 Introduction

To develop a coherent theoretical framework, I shortly introduce the concept of youth before engaging with theoretical debates around citizenship. Common theories on citizenship and critiques of the concepts are discussed and the notion of lived experiences of citizenship is introduced. To further substantiate lived experiences of citizenship, I draw on Bourdieu’s concept of capital, Butler’s performativity-theory and Lister’s study on understandings of citizenship.

2.1 Youth – Transitions into Adulthood

A primary challenge when addressing youth-related issues is to define youth, as there is no consensus. The United Nations (UN) and the World Bank (WB) define youth as everyone between 15 and 24 years (WB 2005), the African Youth Charter as well as the Mozambican government regard every person between 15 and 35 years as youth and UNICEF defines people between 10 and 19 as young (UNDESA 2013). Definitions of youth are influenced by political agendas as well as historical, social and cultural determinants. Therefore, Honwana’s youth-conception, who defines youth as a “historically situated social and cultural construction” (Honwana & de Boeck 2005:4) serves to explore local notions of youth.

Honwana understands youth as a “period of suspension between childhood and adulthood” (2014:29) that she labels ‘waithood’. This state of limbo is a waiting for adulthood, as youth are no children anymore that need care, but they also are still not seen as able to be independent adults. How adulthood is defined depends on the social context and on socially recognized characteristics of adulthood. Honwana provides examples such as “to build, buy, or rent a house for themselves, support their relatives, get married, establish families” (2014:29). Youth respectively are “all those who have not yet been able to attain social adulthood, despite their age” (ibid.). Honwana argues that this status of waithood becomes increasingly prolonged, as economic and social circumstances prevent youth from transitioning into adulthood. She describes the social contract between youth as citizens and the state as broken. The state fails to provide youth “with the opportunities to grow up healthy, get a good education, find employment, form families and contribute to society as fully-fledged citizens” (ibid.). Despite youth’s marginal position in waithood, Honwana sees this period as a possibility that youth often use creatively to challenge societal norms and rules (Honwana & de Boeck 2005:3).

This research makes use of Howana’s conception of youth, as it explicitly addresses the struggles, but also the agency youth exercise in their transition to adulthood and understands youth as a socially constructed and therefore context-dependent category.

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2.2 Popular Notions of Citizenship

The two most widespread conceptions of citizenship understand citizenship either in terms of rights and status (liberal theory) or as a practice (civic republican theory). Liberal traditions stress the individual rights and the equality of all citizens. The state-citizen-relationship is characterized through the state’s role of protecting the citizen in the execution of his/her rights (Oldfield 1990:2). Whether the citizen wants to execute those rights, however, is seen as an individual choice, as every citizen can do so. In opposition to liberal notions of citizenship, civic republican understandings stress the importance of the community and the pursuit of a ‘common good’ (Isin and Wood 1999:8). Civic republicans stress the duties rather than the rights citizens have, which contrasts with liberal notions of citizenship (Oldfield 1990:164). This school of thought argues that citizens must be enabled to act as such, rights per se are not seen as sufficient.

The divide between an understanding of citizenship as status (liberal) and practice (civic-republican) has been overcome by several scholars. Lister (1997a) draws on both to formulate her conception of citizenship in which she distinguishes ‘to be’ and ‘to act’ as a citizen. She introduces agency to bridge the divide and sees the rights related to citizenship as enabling people to act as citizens:

“To be a citizen in the legal and sociological sense means to enjoy the rights of citizenship necessary for agency and social and political participation. To act as a citizen involves fulfilling the potential of that status” (Lister 1997a: 41).

For Lister, citizenship entails both having citizen rights and making use of those right to act as a citizen. This short overview of popular notions of citizenship gave an impression of the diverse understandings of the concept. However, a growing body of literature also criticizes these concepts. The most relevant critiques for this research are therefore discussed in the next section. Subsequently, in order to incorporate the critiques into the theoretical understanding of citizenship used for this research, the concept of lived experiences of citizenship is introduced.

2.3 Critiques of Citizenship-Theories

Existing understandings of citizenship have been criticized, amongst others, by scholars drawing on feminism and post-colonialism. For this research, especially feminist critiques and works on youth and citizenship are of interest – as they concern the researched group of this study, young women. Reviewing such scholars, two main themes emerge: 1) the different capabilities individuals hold to enact their citizenship, and 2) the notion of citizenship as a performance or practice and how certain norms and discourses shape this performance.

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6 The first theme is related to citizenship’s veil of universalism and formal equality. Feminist critiques illustrate how popular notions of citizenship exclude or disadvantage women, exposing the patriarchal basis of citizenship and the gendered nature of the 'abstracted citizen' (Pateman 1997:280). The universalistic intentions of citizenship are criticized for disguising exclusions under a “veil of formal equality” (Lister 1997b:38) and for reproducing the oppression and silencing of certain groups (Young 1985:398). What it means to be a citizen is seen as a deeply masculine biased concept, as the concept has predominantly been developed in male dominated contexts (ibid: 382).

Feminist scholars draw attention to different capabilities and opportunities people have to engage in political, social and civic activities. This viewpoint opposes the liberal notion that all individuals have the same preconditions to become full citizens (Voet 1995:263f). Lister argues that the ability of certain groups to act as citizens and the degree to which they enjoy citizen rights depends on where they stand on a continuum of inclusion and exclusion (1997b:36). Similar critiques have been articulated by scholars looking at youth’s relation to citizenship and the circumstances that allow or impede youth to become citizens have been a focus of research. Hall and Coffey for example consider young people’s personal, social and cultural backgrounds and how these structure and influence “their experience of, and the meanings attached to, citizenship as a lived identity” (2007:284). Instead of perceiving citizenship as a universal, neutral concept, this first strand of criticism stresses the processes of negotiation, (re)production and articulation around citizenship (ibid.).

In addition to the focus on differing and often inequitable preconditions individuals and groups have to enact their citizenship, feminist critiques and theories on youth and citizenship also draw the attention to practices and performances of citizenship. An important example is Lister (1997a;b), who understands citizenship in terms of both rights and practice. Other scholars address the importance of understanding how the citizen’s position and existing norms shape his or her performances of citizenship (Arnot & Swartz 2012; Moon 2012). Research looking at performances and practices of citizenship furthermore frequently criticize the static and abstract notion of citizenship.

Building on these two strands of critique – that is, attending to a) young women’s position in society and how this shapes their citizenship experiences, and b) citizenship as dynamic and performed rather than a fixed unchanging status – I introduce the concept of lived experiences citizenship in the following section.

2.4 Lived Experiences of Citizenship

To counteract the pitfalls of conventional conceptions of citizenship identified above, the concept of lived experiences of citizenship is presented. Contrary to theories that address the concept of

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7 citizenship from a solely theoretical, political-philosophical lens, the notion of lived experiences of citizenship draws attention to people’s understandings and experiences of citizenship and the context they are situated in (Hildreth 2012; Hall and Coffey 2007; Moon 2012; Wither 2017). Scholars focus on “[T]he meaning that citizenship actually has in people’s lives and the ways in which people’s social and cultural backgrounds and material circumstances affect their lives as citizens” (Hall and Williamson 1999:2).

This conception of citizenship emerged from critiques on the lack of empirical studies of citizenship available (Miller-Idriss 2006:543). Existing theoretical analyses of citizenship were criticized as being disconnected from everyday lives and contexts of people (Hildreth 2012:920). How people understand citizenship, how they behave as citizens and practice citizenship, what challenges they experience in being citizens and how they identify as citizens in their everyday lives is still not sufficiently considered. Sociologist Patrick distinguishes between top-down and bottom-up approaches to citizenship, the former being “articulated from above” while the latter look at citizenship “as it is lived and experienced from below” (2017:294). A shift in scholarly debate from analytical focus to practices of citizenship, from top-down to bottom-up approaches, gives room to understand citizenship as an “an on-going process, a social practice, and a cultural performance rather than a static category” (Berdahl 2005:236).

As the notion of lived experiences of citizenship remains a rather abstract one, that is furthermore, varyingly interpreted by different scholars, the following paragraph clarifies how it is operationalized within this study. Based on the literature, two elements of lived experiences of citizenship can be identified: the first entails the individual’s understanding of citizenship, the meaning citizenship has in her/his everyday life and how it is enacted and performed. It highlights the individual meaning, performances and experiences of citizenship and was investigated for example by Lister et al. (2003) and Humpage (2008). The second element looks at the context this individual is situated in and how this context influences the performances of and meanings attached to citizenship. This aspect of lived experiences of citizenship has been the focus of research by Mukherjee and Jha (2017) or Wood (2014). To further unpack the two components of lived experiences of citizenship, I understand the first component as entailing understandings and performances of citizenship whilst the second describes the social, economic and cultural context an individual is situated in, including social norms and social, cultural and economic capital individuals have access to. Hence, to understand what citizenship means and how it expresses itself in the life of young women in Maputo, a consideration of the following two components is necessary:

1) Individual: Understandings and performances of citizenship, and

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8 This unravelling is rarely done by scholars researching lived experiences of citizenship as most focus on one of the components. 2_{The holistic perspective on lived experiences of citizenship that this}

research adopts is expected to shed light on the relations between the different components, and allows for an analysis of the ways young women understand, experience, act and negotiate citizenship in their lives. The concept acknowledges the qualitative differences in lived experiences of citizenship, emphasizes citizenship-performances, focuses on bottom-up processes of citizenship discourses and perceives citizenship as something fluid. To further operationalize lived experiences of citizenship and its elements, I am drawing on three scholars: Bourdieu and his concept of capitals, Butler’s performativity-theory and Lister’s models of citizenship understandings.

2.4.1 Bourdieu’s Concept of Capital

Bourdieu provides a helpful tool to analyze the different capabilities individuals have to enact their citizenship through the notion of capital. In his practice theory, the distributions of different types of capital are representing the “immanent structure of the social world” (Bourdieu 1986:15), the social, cultural and economic circumstances an individual is located in.

Bourdieu differentiates between economic capital as economic resources, social capital as the sum of resources that accrue to an individual or group as a result of social connections and relationships (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992: 243), cultural capital as the knowledge, skills and information people acquire through education and symbolic capital as “the form that the various species of capital assume when they are perceived and recognized as legitimate” (Bourdieu 1989:17).

Wood (2014) applied Bourdieu’s concept of capital to describe qualitative differences in lived experiences of citizenship as arising from differing ‘participatory capital’ individuals hold. Deriving from the observation that citizen participation differs greatly across social groups and that “unequal access to economic, social and cultural resources shapes the ways in which young people understand and experience citizenship and politics” (Wood 2014:579).

Most criticism of Bourdieu’s theory of practice concern the prioritization of social reproduction above transformation. Butler (1999), for example, criticizes that Bourdieu denies individuals the capacity to alter the conditions of the field, and therefore denies them agency. Feminist critiques also reject Bourdieu’s focus on social class, which loses site of markers such as “sex/gender, sexuality, and even race” (Lovell 2000:12). For this research, the most important shortcoming of the theory concerns its lacking capacity to capture change, particularly in gender relations (Arnot 2002; McCall 1992; McNay

2 _{E.g. Wood looks at ‘participatory capital’ and citizenship (2014). Lister et al. highlight meanings attached to citizenship by}

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9 1999 in Nentwich 2014:238) as well as the restricted room agency takes within it. To counter these theoretical deficits, Judith Butler’s concept of performativity (1998) is used as a complementary theoretical lens.

The working definition of capital used for this research understands capital as consisting of economic, social and cultural capital which defines the specific position an individual has within a community or society. Individuals can acquire, accumulate and mobilize capital. In relation to citizenship, capital enables individuals to claim their rights as citizens and to perform their citizenship.

2.4.2 Butler’s Theory of Performativity

Butler’s (1998) concept of performativity provides a theoretical lens to understand citizenship as a performance shaped by, but also possibly shaping norms. Butler understands norms as performative, which means that they are established through repetitive acts and become naturalized through continuous repetition; however, the subject is constituted but not determined by them (1999:181). Performances and performatives are differentiated, the latter are “utterances which enact or instantiate or bring about social statuses, as in the authorized declaration of marriage” (Lovell 2000:15). Performatives are also always performances, the only difference being that “they have the force of social institutionalization behind them which mere performances lack” (ibid:31). There therefore is a difference in saying gender is performed or gender is performative. The performance of gender describes to the acting out of norms associated with a certain gender. Understanding gender as performative means that it produces a certain effect, it is related to processes of discipline, organization, regulation and cultivation. A performative has normalizing power that it constitutes by exclusion, producing the normal and abnormal (Loxley 2007: 124f.)

Despite Butler’s emphasis on the importance of discourses and norms and their effect on performances, she sees potential for social transformation through what she calls ‘subversive resignification’. Butler argues that norms establish the possibility of agency, as they are inherently instable, temporal and fragmented. Subversive resignification occurs when subjects perform a norm/performative in different ways, they transgress their performances which can ultimately lead to a displacement or a change of norms. A performance can either contribute to normalize, but it can also be a kind of “enacted critique” (Loxley 2007:125). Even though norms shape performances, they can also be rearticulated through performances. Agents continuously “enact, repeat, appropriate and refuse” (ibid.117) norms. Butler therefore sees the potential of transformation, of reconstructing taken-for-granted norms (Alsop et al. 2002:227).

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10 Performativity draws attention to the norms that define how an individual must act to be recognized as a good citizen, a respectable woman, or honorable youth. In the same way that gender is socially constructed, so too are the norms by which the ‘good citizen’s’ behavior and young people are judged (Pine 2010:105). Isin states that a performative perspective on citizenship “reveals its creative and transformative possibilities” (2017:501) which is why Butler’s concept of performativity serves as a lens to not only analyze gender norms and norms about youth and citizenship, but to also show how these norms might be challenged through citizenship-performances and ‘subversive resignification’. This research understands norms as arising from reiterative performances. Norms guide individuals and their performances but are constantly negotiated and can be challenged, changed or displaced. The terms norm, performative, societal rule and behavioral rule are used interchangeably. Performances – in this case of citizenship – refer to the enactment of citizenship that is shaped by norms. However, citizenship-performances can also transgress existing norms and through that serve as an ‘enacted critique’. Special attention is given to how young women navigate existing norms in their performances of citizenship. Navigation is understood as responding to, dealing with, circumventing, getting around, managing or adapting to circumstances the young women are situated in. Performing citizenship in the context of different and even contrasting norms concerning citizenship, gender and youth elicits different responses or adaptations of citizenship-performances.

2.4.3 Lister’s Models of the Meanings of Citizenship

To understand lived experiences of citizenship it is important to understand what citizenship means to certain groups and individuals, how they adapt certain discourses or re-negotiate meanings. Significant work on this bottom-up perspective on citizenship-discourses was done by Lister e al., who developed five models of how young people in a British city perceive citizenship (2003). The five models, namely ‘universal status’, ‘respectable economic independence’, ‘constructive social participation’, ‘social-contractual’ and ‘right to a voice’ serve as a frame of analysis. Of the five different models explained below, the first three were the most popular among research-participants in Lister et al’s study (ibid.: 236f.)

Universal Status

The model of ‘universal status’ revolves around social membership and being a member of a society. “Everyone is understood to be a citizen by virtue of membership of the community or nation.” (ibid.:237). This model coincides largely with liberal theories on citizenship.

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11 Respectable Economic Independence

Citizenship being conditioned by whether a person achieves a necessary economic status defines the ‘respectable economic independence’ model. Only a “person who is in waged employment, pays taxes and has a family and their own house” (ibid.:238) is understood as a citizen.

Constructive Social Participation

The third-common model ‘constructive social participation’ (CSP) revolves around the citizen having a positive impact on the people around him or her and the broader society. A citizen should have a „constructive stance towards the community” (ibid.) which can range from passive (abiding the law) to more active (helping others) forms. Citizenship is seen as a responsible practice and a reciprocal relationship with the community or society. This model resonates with communitarian and civic-republican theories on citizenship, focusing on citizenship as a practice.

Social-Contractual

Right and/or responsibilities are the basis of the ‘social-contractual’ model of citizenship. A participant of Lister et al’s study described that citizenship means “being a part of society and having rights and requirements of living within the law“ (ibid.: 239). This model is built on a legal, rights-based approach to citizenship.

Right to a Voice

The last model merely emerged from a small number of participants and entails “The right and genuine opportunity to have a say and be heard” (ibid.). Citizenship entails one’s opinions and views being heard and respected.

The five models Lister describes are not mutually exclusive, many young people use several models simultaneously to describe what citizenship means to them. Within this research, they serve as a framework to analyze the meanings research participants attribute to citizenship.

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2.5 Conceptual Scheme

In order to capture lived experiences of citizenship, its components and the interactions between them, the following conceptual scheme was developed:

Figure 1 Conceptual Scheme

The conceptual scheme portrays lived experiences of citizenship. On the upper level, this experience entails the more individual elements, namely how and individual understands and performs citizenship. The lower level describes the social, cultural and economic context this lived experience of citizenship takes place in, by looking at existing norms and capitals an individual possesses and acquired. Institutions and actors such as the family, the government or the church are portrayed below norms and capitals, as the former are heavily impacted by them and cannot stand alone, the social embedding must be taken into account. The relations between the components are foreseen as follows:

o Existing norms shape young women’s performances and understandings of citizenship o Capitals shape young women’s performances and understandings of citizenship

o Young women’s understandings of citizenship shape their performances of citizenship and could shape existing norms

o Young women’s performances of citizenship could shape their understandings of citizenship and could shape existing norms

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13 Finally, within the existing areas of tension between norms, capitals and female youth’s understandings and performances of citizenship, the young women apply strategies and adapt their performances. An operationalization of the concepts that was developed for the research proposal can be seen in appendix VII, however, this operationalization only partially depicts the concepts used during fieldwork and analysis.

2.6 Conclusion and Research Gaps

Feminist theories as well as research focusing on youth and citizenship illustrate the qualitative differences in the lived experiences of citizenship and the contested nature of the concept. Although it became clear that an extensive body of literature on citizenship exists, important gaps remain. The first gap concerns the perspective of people themselves, how they understand and experience citizenship, and the possibilities and challenges it poses to them. There appears to be a tendency to take a top-down look at citizenship, creating theoretical and normative concepts of the ‘good citizen’, its role in society and relation to the state. Arnot et al. (2012) criticize that there is a lack of research on how people experience citizenship, especially those that are excluded from it and face difficulties exercising their citizenship. She stresses the importance of investigating how e.g. youth negotiate and personalize their own discourses of citizenship (2012:8).

Another research gap concerns the discourses and norms related to citizenship, how they affect individuals’ exercise of citizenship and the lived experiences citizenship of young women. Most of the literature that is concerned with citizenship’s exclusionary tendencies focuses on the factors that impede the exercise of citizenship, such as a lack of education (Wood 2014) and groups that do not manage to act out their citizenship or only partly. Therefore, an analysis of how certain groups that are affected by restrictive norms nonetheless manage to assert their rights and enact their citizenship could fill an existing research-gap. The concept of lived experiences of citizenship allows this research to take a holistic perspective on what citizenship means for young women in Maputo, how they negotiate its meaning, perform it and how their situation within society influences all the before mentioned. Even though the concept has recently received more attention, most of its applications remain either focused on one component of lived experiences of citizenship or remain at a rather abstract level.

To apply the theoretical lens as an analytical tool, it was broken down into its components, with different scholars offering useful concepts with which to examine how citizenship expresses itself in people’s daily lives. More specifically, the concept of capital by Bourdieu, Butler’s notion of

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14 performativity and Lister’s models of citizenship understanding are used to explore how social, economic and cultural circumstances shape performances and understandings of citizenship and how performances of citizenship can reshape existing social norms.

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3 Research Context

3.1 Introduction

The research took place in Maputo, Mozambique. The country has been shaken by nearly 30 years of continuous war, economic crisis and environmental disasters and,

despite good economic growth in recent years, continues to be one of the poorest countries in the world. According to the HDI it ranks 181 out of 189 states (UNDP 2018). However, Mozambique also became a ‘donor darling’, a “beacon of hope” (Darch 2015:321) and civil society organizations take more and more prominent roles despite the deterioration of civic space (Civicus 2018). Especially youth are increasingly expressing their discontent and strive to influence politics. As the director of a German political foundation told me: “Things are getting heated among youth, they want to participate differently and are looking for new ways to do so” (27.08.2018).

This chapter will address the context of Mozambique and Maputo specifically, providing a wider lens through which to view the geo-political, historical and social climate in which citizenship must be understood. It begins by considering the political, historical and

economic context of Mozambique, highlighting the prevailing issues that characterize the country. The chapter then expands more broadly on the state’s relation to citizenship. Lastly, specifically the situation of youth and women in Mozambique is examined.

3.2 Politics and History

For almost 30 years, Mozambique's history and politics were marked by war. In 1962, the Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (Frelimo) formed as an anti-colonial liberation movement and two years later, a 10-year liberation struggle began. The colonial empire collapsed with the so-called Carnation Revolution in Portugal and Mozambique gained its independence in 1975 (Berger 2018). Frelimo, having its roots in Marxist-Leninist ideology, took on power the same year, with no electoral legitimization whatsoever (Chimbutane 2018:13). An anti-Frelimo guerrilla force named Resistência Nacional Moçambicana (Renamo) was formed in 1975 and supported by Rhodesia and South Africa who encouraged Renamo’s anti-communist ambitions (Hanlon 2010:79)

Figure 2 Map showing Mozambique and neighbouring countries

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16 What followed was a supposedly civil war between Frelimo and Renamo, intensified by foreign interventions and Cold War politics and therefore also seen as a proxy war by many scholars (ibid.). During this period, the civilian population experienced unprecedented cruelties (Lorch and Bunk 2017:995). Hundreds of thousands of Mozambicans died, 1.5 million had to flee to neighboring countries, 3.5 million were driven out of their homes and deprived of their livelihood. The direct and indirect costs of the war were in the tens of billions (Berger 2018).

Due to the civil/proxy war the state almost completely collapsed in the 1980s and a power vacuum opened (Honwana 1996:17). In the face of this situation, Renamo and Frelimo recognized the need for a "peaceful settlement, democracy, national reconciliation and unity "(ibid.). The 1992 Peace Treaty marked a milestone in Mozambique’s history and ushered in the first multi-party elections of 1994. However, it quickly became apparent that the conflict had not been eliminated, in ever-recurring waves to this day, peace in the country is endangered (Beck 2018 and Anetos 2016). Frelimo has been constantly in power, but in addition to Renamo, a third political party, Movimento Democratico de Mocambique (MDMD) appeared on the political landscape in 2009 (Bertelsmann Stiftung 2018:17). Despite the multi-party system, Frelimo remains the dominant party and controls practically all political institutions (Öhm 2009:2). Researchers recognize a growing distance between the state and the population. A study by the Open Society Foundation criticizes that “national politics risks becoming the province of a wealthy elite, without connections to the ordinary people” (2009) and Sumich describes how Frelimo created “a system that excluded and alienated large sections of the population” (2007:1). Many of the promises of the transition to democracy are unfulfilled, causing hostility from the majority that has been left behind (Sumich 2013:111).

3.3 Economics

Notwithstanding economic growth rates of an average of seven percent in the past ten years, unemployment in Mozambique remains high, especially amongst young people (Shikhani 2012:5). In 2013, political elites secretly and in violation of budgetary laws and debt commitments raised about $2 billion of loans that were invested in ominous projects around tuna fishing and maritime security. After the discovery of these practices in 2016, the illegal-loans scandal led to a devastating economic crisis and public protests arose (Raminhos 2016). Many details around the scandal continue to be unknown and protest recently arose again around the extradition of the involved former finance minister Manuel Chang, who was arrested in South Africa (Fabricius 2019).

Official Development Aid (ODA) has played an important part in the country’s economy that relies heavily on foreign aid. In 2007, ODA made up around 45 percent of government expenditures (de

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17 Renzio and Hanlon 2007). Whereas in 2014 Maputo was chosen by the IMF to host the Africa Rising conference, recognizing Mozambique’s economic growth, it’s “impressive performances” and the “high hopes” for the future, as Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF conference expressed (Barclay 2018), things looked very different shortly after. Since the hidden loans scandal, all 14 donors that provided direct budget support to Mozambique before, stopped their funding, worsening the economic and social situation within the country (Club of Mozambique 2018).

3.4 Citizenship in Mozambique

Following this general political, historical and economic background, the next sections describe the official conception of citizenship, its development and how citizenship is currently used and expressed by the Mozambican government. The official usage of citizenship helps to contextualize female youth’s understandings and performances of citizenship better.

3.4.1 Citizenship – Historical Development

Historically, there were different types of citizenship in Mozambique. During colonial times, only certain groups of the society were acknowledged as full citizens, namely Europeans and assimilados, “members of a black elite who were explicitly defined as ‘not native’” (Sumich 2013:102). The rest of the population was perceived as “not sufficiently mature” and therefore it was the “role of the State to take up trusteeship of those who were not able to take responsibility for themselves” (Macamo 2017:198). Citizenship was not a universal, natural right but linked to certain perceived abilities and characteristics one had to fulfill.

Macamo describes how the state’s paternalism was maintained during and after the liberation and how citizens’ voices and rights were subordinated to the national project. This national project was first characterized by the struggle for independence and after independence by the goal of national development (ibid:199). These ‘higher goods’ justified the “notion that individual liberty is a function of a national political project, and not necessarily inherent to the individuals themselves” (ibid.:199). The state continued to see it as its duty to make the right decision for Mozambicans. As Macamo argues, “the idea of a power that is deeply aware of what is good for the individual” (2014:26) persisted. Under Frelimo’s one-party state, those whose lifestyles were in line with the socialist project and who were loyal to Frelimo were considered good citizens (Sumich 2013:103).

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3.4.2 Citizenship in Present Times

Even after the introduction of a multiparty-system, citizenship in Mozambique continued and continues to be limited. Macamo describes a “confrontation between the rule of law and an authoritarian political culture which is deeply hostile to citizenship” (2017:198). On paper, Mozambique is a constitutional state in which the citizens are holders of certain rights; in practice however, this clashes with the persisting authoritarian leadership. The ideas of “‘national interest’ and ‘people’s will’” (Macamo 2017:198) continue to play an important role and limit citizens’ freedoms and rights.

However, not only the subordination of citizenship to national interest leads to the state’s failure to comply with its citizen’s right. Other factors, such as the prevalent corruption, the state’s fragility and its dependence on donors do so as well. Sumich and Honwana (2007) trace the problems of the Mozambican democracy and of citizenship to a lack of understanding of what these terms mean and entail: “democracy was never a ‘popular’ project in Mozambique, nor (sic) is it necessarily proving an effective way to incorporate those previously marginalized.” (2007:17). This provocative statement makes the alienation between the concept of democracy and the Mozambican reality clear. Additionally, the importance of ODA diminishes the state’s accountability towards its citizens – as the OECD argues – “aid may encourage stronger state accountability to donors than to citizens, particularly where it finances a large share of public expenditure” (2016:56) and as Ferguson describes in his famous work on the ‘anti-politics machine’ (1990).

The idea of citizenship expressed in the Mozambican constitution is based on a diverse set of economic, civil and social rights. Examples of these rights are the right to education, to housing or to vote. In addition, a catalogue of citizen-duties exists: the duty to respect others, to conserve the environment, to contribute to the defense of the state, to work and, above all, the duty to respect the constitution. Under article 35 – ‘the principle of universality and equality’ – the Mozambican constitution states that:

“All citizens are equal in front of the law, enjoy the same rights and are subject to the same duties irrespective of color, race, sex, ethnic origin, place of birth, religion, educational background, social status, civilian status of the parents or political option”3_{(MZ Const.}

2004: §35)

However, as Macamo rightly claims, most of the Mozambicans do not “come anywhere near enjoying these constitutionally enshrined rights” (2017:197). The principle of universality and equality in front of the lawdoes not translate into reality. The International Youth Foundation’s (IYF) report quotes a community leader in Maputo who stated that:

3“_{Todos os cidadãos são iguais perante a lei, gozam dos mesmos direitos e estão sujeitos aos mesmos deveres,}

independentemente da cor, raça, sexo, origem étnica, lugar de nascimento, religião, grau de instrução, posição social, estado civil dos pais, profissão ou opção política.”

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19 “The actions of the government have the clear intention of limiting citizens’ rights to protest for their rights. When the government speaks of citizenship, it speaks of the duty the citizens have to pay taxes; it never speaks of the citizens’ rights to demand public goods, social services, or even the [citizen’s] right to protest.” (ibid.).

The government appears to only value participation that is not critical towards its own positions and does not challenge its power. A significant discrepancy between the official discourse on citizenship, based on universality and equality and the implementation of this status can be seen. Further examples are given in sections 3.5 and 3.6, where youths’ and women’s marginal position in society are described.

3.4.3 Citizenship in Official Discourse

Despite the mismatch between what is written in the constitution and the reality of many Mozambicans, the concept of citizenship is commonly used in the government’s discourse, e.g. in government-documents and speeches given by government officials. To further illustrate the state’s understanding of citizenship and the ‘good citizen’, documents such the curricular plans and speeches given by government officials provide valuable input.

In both, primary and secondary curricula as well as the strategic plan for education, reference is made to the aim of ‘forming citizens´. These citizens should be molded to “develop self-esteem and a patriotic spirit, that is, to train people capable to actively participate in the fight against poverty and in promoting the country's economic, social, political and cultural development"4_{(MoEC 2012:12 ).The}

Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC) indicates that educated citizens should be proud Mozambicans, protect the environment, adhere to the values of loyalty, responsibility and discipline and the spirit of national unity, peace, tolerance, democracy, solidarity and respect (MoEC 2003:7; 2007:1; 2012:9f).

In a speech given in 2018, president Nyusi talks about families as being responsible for molding the citizens of tomorrow, that are “of integrity, responsible, made up of moral, ethic, civic and patriotic values”5_{(Folha de Maputo 2018). In many documents and speeches, the focus is not on citizens’ rights}

or duties, but on an understanding of unity and moral values that citizens should hold. Miedema describes the frequent reference to ‘the Nation’ and ‘Mozambicanness’ as “arguably indicative of a nationalistic focus on unity rather than, for example, notions of citizenship and civic rights” (2015:11). In recent years, another interesting discursive development can be seen in the state’s reference to self-employment, youth’s adaptability to the new economy, new ways of working and entrepreneurship (MoEC 2007). This discourse puts yet another expectation and burden on youth and

4 “_{desenvolver a autoestima e o espírito patriótico, ou seja, a formar pessoas capazes de intervir ativamente no combate à}

pobreza e na promoção do desenvolvimento económico, social, político e cultural do país”

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20 what they should do to become full citizens. In conclusion, it can be said that the Mozambican state holds a social-contractual understanding of citizenship, focusing on rights and even more on duties citizens have (Lister et al. 2003:239).

3.5 Youth in Mozambique

Following Abou-Habib, who argues that one key-question around citizenship is to ask who has ‘the right to have rights’ (2011:411), this section illustrates the who and hence youths and women’s position in Mozambique. In 2006, Mozambique signed the African Youth Charter which stresses the importance of youth participation in decision-making (African Union 2006). Article 123 of the Constitution of the Republic considers youth as the “renewing force of society”6_{and as a “continuation}

of the patriotic traditions of the people of Mozambique”7_{(Raposo 2014:9). Honwana developed the}

well-known concept of youth as ‘waithood’ through research she conducted, amongst others, in Mozambique. Due to the economic and political circumstances described above, youth in Mozambique find themselves in a state of limbo.

Economically, a lot of young people are unable to achieve independence, as unemployment rates remain high8_{. Many of them are part of the increasing urbanization trend and migrate to the bigger}

cities in search for work (Honwana 2012:8). In 2008 and 2010, protests erupted in Maputo, when thousands of young Mozambicans denounced the rise in the prices of staples such as bread and water, which impeded them from fulfilling their basic needs. Honwana argues that politically, youth in Mozambique feel alienated due to the prevalent corruption, the poor quality of political leadership and a lack of real possibilities to participate in decision-making: Youth feel “disconnected from the elites that control the government and national politics” and criticize the government as lacking a clear vision and political will to deal with the problems affecting them (ibid.:112). Politicians are perceived as acting primarily in their own interest and the parties as well as the state do not allow dissenting voices.

Mozambique’s political instability, the poor governance and misaligned social and economic policies have aggravated the societal problems and reduced the ability of young people to become full and independent citizens. Honwana nonetheless describes new forms of citizen action and social engagement that youth are taking up (ibid:135). She states that youth challenge the ruling elites and reject existent patterns and structures. Youth are not only “redefining the spaces of citizenship but are also questioning the state’s authority to define and delimit it” (Diouf 2005 in Honwana 2012:137). Young Mozambicans in waithood develop their own spaces of action, they do not constitute ‘a lost

6 _{“a forca renovadora da sociedade”}

7 _{“como digna continuadora das tradições patrióticas do povo moçambicano”} 8_{According to the ILO in 2018 25,4% of the population are unemployed (ILO 2018).}

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21 generation’, neither are they apathetic to the challenges that their society faces. Youth are aware of their marginal structural position and do not trust in the willingness and capacity of the State to find solutions to their problems.

Studies by several NGOs, such as the IYF, mention factors that discourage young people’s political participation. The IYF argues that possibilities for youth to express their political opinions and to participate in political institutions are scarce (2014:11). The IYF also criticizes that the Mozambican Government is barely making any effort “to change the current system and [to] educating (sic) citizens to assert their citizenship rights and responsibilities” (ibid.:15).

To conclude, youth in Maputo, Mozambique are highly affected by the ongoing economic crisis that prevents them from entering ‘social adulthood’ and gaining economic independence. The authoritarian political climate furthermore impedes youth’s participation in political decision-making. In sum, these circumstances position many Mozambican youth in a place that Honwana labels waithood, hampering their conversion into adulthood but also into full citizenship.

3.6 Women in Mozambique

Besides youth, women are another societal group in Mozambique that faces constraints in exercising their citizenship. Since the independence, women officially have access to all areas of social life and administration. 39% percent of deputies today are women, one of the highest proportions of women in all parliaments in Southern Africa (UNDP 2018). Tvedten et al. stress Mozambique’s political tradition of emphasizing gender equality and the empowerment of women but criticize that “the impact of these policies has suffered from deep-rooted male socio-cultural configurations, and limited concrete action and intervention beyond policy and legal frameworks” (2000:48).

Even though Mozambique displays positive developments regarding some aspects of gender equality, structural challenges towards women’s participation remain (Karberg 2015:5). Although women receive the same formal set of citizen rights, several CSOs point out the contradiction between the government’s discourse and the implementation of women’s rights in practice (ibid.:9). The duality of women’s status is criticized. Despite the promotion of women’s representation in the public sphere, their rights continue to be restricted in the private sphere. A duality which Lorch and Bunk see as “tacitly upheld by the Mozambican regime” (2016:30). They further criticize that:

“While, on the one hand, the regime points to policies such as the quota for women on Frelimo’s election lists and state institutions’ support for the political representation of women, it defends, or at least tolerates, on the other hand, customary systems of a patriarchal nature when it comes to women’s rights within the family” (ibid.:31)

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22 Within their families and communities, women continue to face many barriers that prevent them from achieving equality with men. To provide some supporting statistics, Mozambique ranks 138th_{out of}

160 countries on the UNDP Gender Inequality Index9_{(UNDP 2018) and 48% percent of women aged}

20-24 were married before the age of 18 (ibid.). According to UN Women, women’s economic empowerment remains difficult as “women account for 87.3% of the labor force in agriculture but are only 25% of the landowners holding official user rights” (2019). Furthermore, UN Women identifies the widespread acceptance of violence against women – in 2004, 54% of Mozambican women had experienced violence – and the prevalence of HIV among young women – being three times higher than among young men – as additional signs of “deeply rooted gender-inequalities” (ibid.). In conclusion, even though Mozambique has done some important steps towards gender equality, many deeply engrained manifestations of gender inequality remain and can only be overcome by political commitment and societal change.

3.7 Conclusion

This short summary of the research context endorsed why the research is of specific interest in the context of Mozambique. Despite the limiting conception of citizenship the Mozambican government holds, the concept of citizenship appears to be constantly (re-)negotiated and (re-)defined by youth and women groups that create new spaces of citizen-participation. The previous sections informed the research design and methods that are described in the following chapter.

9 _{The Gender Inequality Index “reflects gender-based inequalities in three dimensions - reproductive health, empowerment,}

and economic activity. Reproductive health is measured by maternal mortality and adolescent birth rates; empowerment is measured by the share of parliamentary seats held by women and attainment in secondary and higher education by each gender; and economic activity is measured by the labor market participation rate for women and men.“ (UNDP 2018)

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4 Research Design and Research Methods

4.1 Introduction

Based on the research context and the theoretical assumptions outlined in the previous schapters, this chapter introduces the research design and methods. First, the research questions are developed before the epistemological, ontological and methodological choices are explained. Furthermore, the unit of analysis, sampling strategy and sample, as well as the data collection and analysis are described. Subsequently, specific attention is paid to the research quality, ethical considerations, positionality and limitations these choices bring about.

4.2 Research Questions

Based on the theoretical framework developed, the identified research gaps and the contextual embedding, the following research question arises:

How do young women in Maputo, Mozambique understand and perform citizenship, and what strategies do they use to navigate potentially restrictive norms that affect them in their lived experiences of citizenship?

Which is divided into the following sub-questions:

a) Which norms influence young women’s lived experiences of citizenship?

b) Which forms of social, cultural and economic capital enable young women to perform their citizenship?

c) How do young women understand and perform citizenship?

d) How do young women navigate existing potentially restrictive norms and respond or adapt their citizenship-performances?

4.3 Ontology and Epistemology

The ontological position underlying this research is based on constructivism. Constructivism sees social phenomena and their meanings as produced through social interaction and therefore as constantly being revised (Robson and McCartan 2016:24f). Categories that we use to make sense of the world around us, such as culture or gender, are not seen as pre-given or external, but constructed and constituted in and through interaction. The active role of individuals in the construction of social reality is thus stressed and the social order is seen as constantly being established, renewed, reviewed, revoked and revised (Bryman 2016:29f). Different socially constructed realities exist. Constructivism hence applies a relational lens to understand social phenomena such as norms or power relations. This

Performing citizenship - challenging norms? : a case of study of young women's lived experiences of citizenship in Maputo, Mozambique

Performing Citizenship – Challenging Norms?

A Case Study of Young Women’s Lived Experiences

of Citizenship in Maputo, Mozambique

Master’s Thesis: Pauline Börschel

Research Master International Development Studies

Graduate School of Social Sciences

University of Amsterdam

Graduate School of Social Sciences

RMSc International Development Studies

Master of Science Thesis

Performing Citizenship – Challenging Norms?

A Case Study of Young Women’s Lived Experiences of Citizenship in

Maputo, Mozambique

30.06.2019

Pauline Börschel

11688941

pauline_boerschel@web.de

Supervisor: Dr. Esther Miedema

Second Reader: Marielle le Mat

Word Count: 29547

Acknowledgements

Abstract

Table of Contents

List of Tables

List of Figures

List of Abbreviations and Acronyms

1 Introduction

1.1 Citizenship and Development

1.2 Controversies around Citizenship

1.3 Problem and Purpose Statement

1.4 Thesis Outline

2 Theoretical Framework

2.1 Introduction

2.1 Youth – Transitions into Adulthood

2.2 Popular Notions of Citizenship

2.3 Critiques of Citizenship-Theories

2.4 Lived Experiences of Citizenship

2.4.1 Bourdieu’s Concept of Capital

2.4.2 Butler’s Theory of Performativity

2.4.3 Lister’s Models of the Meanings of Citizenship

2.5 Conceptual Scheme

2.6 Conclusion and Research Gaps

3 Research Context

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Politics and History

3.3 Economics

3.4 Citizenship in Mozambique

3.4.1 Citizenship – Historical Development

3.4.2 Citizenship in Present Times

3.4.3 Citizenship in Official Discourse

3.5 Youth in Mozambique

3.6 Women in Mozambique

3.7 Conclusion

4 Research Design and Research Methods

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Research Questions

4.3 Ontology and Epistemology