The Middle Class in Mozambique: The State and the Politics of Transformation in Southern Africa

Jason Sumich

oct 2018 · The International African Library Libro 57 · Cambridge University Press

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In recent years, the growth of a middle class has been a key feature of the 'Africa Rising' narrative. Here, Sumich explores the formation of this middle class in Mozambique, answering questions about the basis of the class system and the social order that gives rise to it. Drawing extensively on his fieldwork, Sumich argues that power and status in dominant party states like Mozambique derives more from the ability to access resources, rather than from direct control of the means of production. By considering the role of the state, he shows how the Mozambican middle class can both be bound to a system they benefit from and alienated from it at the same time, as well as exploring the ways in which the middle classes attempt to reproduce their positions of privilege and highlighting the deep uncertain future that they face.

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Jason Sumich is a Senior Research Fellow for the Institute of African Affairs at the German Institute of Global Area Studies (GIGA, Hamburg). He is a political anthropologist who works on issues of class formation, the state, hegemony, citizenship and the politics of enclaving in southern Africa, primarily Mozambique. He holds a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science (2006) and a M.A. from the University of Cape Town (2001). His current research explores new forms of urban governance and control as a member of the project, 'Enclaving: Patterns of Global Futures in Three African Cities' funded by the Research Council of Norway.