Margaret Hall and Tom Young have collaborated on a book that focuses on the past two decades of politics in Mozambique. A brief introductory chapter sets the stage at the end of Portuguese colonialism, with some limited information on the liberation struggle. The book then addresses the immediate post-independence period in a chapter titled "Anything Seemed Possible," which discusses the development of Frelimo's Marxism, development strategies, the rise of Renamo, and the increasing problems in the economy and political organization. Final chapters cover the nature of the war with Renamo, important political changes in the early 1990s, the peace talks, and, briefly, the elections in 1994. Much of the evidence presented is drawn from official statements and speeches as well as newspaper reports. Although Young, at least, was in Mozambique in the 1990s (he was present at a speech by President Joaquim Chissano in 1992 and was a United Nations observer at the 1994 elections), the book does not include much evidence of data collection or interviews conducted in Mozambique, or with Mozambicans.

Reliance on secondary sources means that the more original discussion in the book is at the level of political theory, and the more flawed areas are those that deal more directly with Mozambican society. Among the interesting insights are an analysis of Frelimo's Marxism, which the authors demonstrate was abstract, rather than grounded in Mozambican reality. Throughout they are at pains to explain how Mozambican politics was built on ideas from outside Mozambique: first on socialist and Marxist models, and more recently on Western liberal democratic capitalism. Although much of their evidence suggests that Mozambique has been a weak state that has suffered the imposition of the politics of others, they conclude that "In the case of both Constitutions [1975 and 1990] Mozambicans, or at least their leaders, had a considerable say in the matter and in some sense opted first for a version of socialism and latterly for a version of liberalism" (p. 219).

One useful task Hall and Young undertake is textual analysis of their sources. For instance, part of the explication of Frelimo's Marxism includes an examination of Samora Machel's speeches and his reliance on images and ideas about cleanliness and order as essential elements of his political vision, perhaps not surprising given his training as a nurse. The authors call for a detailed study of Machel's speeches, but they have made an important beginning in this book (p. 66). Later they look closely at the language in the two constitutions as embodying Marxist and then liberal tenets (p. 218).

Despite the value of isolated sections of their political analysis, there are major flaws in this book, which unfortunately appears to have been rushed through production in order to be timely. There are numerous typographical errors, some more serious than others. For example, Nachingwea is placed "inside Mozambique" rather than correctly in Tanzania (p.13), leading to some confusion when discussing Frelimo activities in the following pages. Frelimo leader Armando Guebuza's name is misspelled in two different ways. "Machambas" is translated as "plantations," when it is most commonly used for small farms or fields, a very different type of agriculture than plantations (p. 20). The authors appear unwilling to credit Frelimo with any improvements, and this is in part because they essentially ignore the experience of Portuguese colonialism. It is easy to criticize Frelimo in hindsight, but in the immediate post-independence period the frame of reference was the contrast with fascist colonialism. People I spoke with in the early 1980s often commented on certain freedoms -- for instance to speak to co-workers at their workplace -- that had not existed less than a decade earlier. The other factor related to the colonial experience is the persistence of the Portuguese bureaucracy. Although some difficulties in implementing development strategies were related to centralized Soviet-style bureaucracy, many of the specific snarls were directly inherited from the colonial system, such as requiring specific documents, special paper, signatures, and fiscal and rubber stamps for every step of any official undertaking. Hall and Young simply ignore this aspect of Mozambique's colonial legacy, making it appear that all problems were related to the model of a centralized socialist economy.

The analysis is also flawed by the authors' confusion over the goals of Renamo and South Africa in Mozambique. They apparently dismiss the idea that Renamo's main goal was the destruction of Mozambique when they comment that "[T]his account of Renamo as a violent apolitical movement whose only rationale must be that it operated on behalf of some malevolent outside interests was assiduously cultivated by the Mozambican government and its academic and journalistic publicists with considerable skill and success" (p. 165). Elsewhere they call these other scholars "pro-Frelimo spokesmen" (p. 124), implying that these writers were so biased in favor of Frelimo's politics that they could not report reliably on what was happening. Yet their own evidence demonstrates the terrible extent of Renamo's violence and destructiveness. The diaries found in 1985 detail a meeting between South African and Renamo leaders to develop a "General Plan" which included as goal number one: "Destroy the Mozambican economy in the rural zones" (p.129-130). The authors also comment that "extreme brutality appears to have played a part in Renamo's rapid spread throughout Mozambique after 1980" with the twin goals of attacking the Frelimo state and paralyzing the population through fear. Attacking the state included the "destruction of the economic infrastructure" (p. 168). Thus the academics and journalists who worked to bring the facts of this devastation to world attention were reporting on actual events, not working as "publicists" at the behest of the Mozambican state.

Hall and Young may exhibit their own bias in the curious omission of any mention of the assassination of Ruth First in 1982. Likewise, the treatment of the 1986 plane crash that killed Samora Machel and many others is overly concise. Many in Mozambique and elsewhere still hold South Africa responsible, while these authors simply state in a footnote that "The issues were highly technical, and opinion was split between those who blamed the crash on pilot error and those who suggested that the plane had been diverted by some sort of decoy beam" (p. 195). These two deaths convinced many observers of the hostility South Africa had toward Mozambique; it was this hostility that allowed such attacks to continue throughout the 1980s. Editorial decisions to omit or reduce factual information about South African apartheid terrorism results in a skewed retelling of that dreadful decade in Mozambique.

A major problem of omission is the nearly complete absence of gender analysis or any information on women. This is particularly glaring in the discussion of Renamo's development, where life in Renamo camps is described as having the "attractions of excitement and access to luxury items and women," with absolutely no reference to the fact that the women themselves were captured, raped, and forced to submit to sexual abuse in those camps (p. 170). This error is compounded a few pages later by a reference to the "wives of soldiers" being kept imprisoned at the camps (p. 176). It is simply not acceptable any longer to write a male-centered description of events that had such a devastating impact on women. An earlier discussion, otherwise useful, on the dissension over ideas about tradition and modernity in Frelimo politics, would have made more sense if it had included polygyny, bridewealth, and forced marriages among the traditional practices that Frelimo advocated ending. The traditional customs involving women were among the most contentious of those censured by Frelimo and the Women's Organization (OMM), and the analysis is extraordinarily incomplete when they are not included in the discussion.

An intriguing part of the book discusses the role of local religions and spirit leaders in Renamo and their links with Zimbabwean practices. Yet this is also flawed by the lack of any mention of the potential role of women as diviners, even when one is mentioned by title (Nyamasoro) (p. 182). The Nyamasoro has been long recognized as a spiritual leader in southern Mozambique, and has frequently been a position held by women. Dora Earthy, in her book Valenge Women defines Nyamusoro as "priestess" (Earthy, p.182 [London, 1933]; see also Luis Polanah's research from the 1960s, O Nhamussoro, [Lisbon, 1987]). The discussion of spirit leaders is also impaired by the lack of information on Naparama, which is mentioned only in passing many pages later in a different context. Any discussion of the role of local beliefs about diviners and occult religious elements during the war in Mozambique must include the rise of Naparama and its connection to Frelimo (p. 209).

My own experience in Mozambique includes living in Beira for two years (1982-84), years described several times in this book as the most difficult of the entire post-independence period. I returned briefly in 1989, and was also a UN observer at the 1994 elections (and I would agree with Tom Young's aside that "the opportunity to observe the UN [was] at least as valuable as the opportunity to observe the elections" [p. 231]). This relates to yet another omission: there is no analysis of the election results included here. In fact, with the exception of a vague footnote about União Democratica's unexpectedly good showing, there are no election results at all, usually considered a foundation of political analysis.

While Hall and Young have some scattered information and analysis that furthers our understanding of recent political events in Mozambique, the flaws are many and deep. Use this book in conjunction with other publications, such as William Minter's Apartheid's Contras: An Inquiry into the Roots of War in Angola and Mozambique (London, 1994) and Stephanie Urdang's And Still They Dance: Women, War, and the Struggle for Change in Mozambique (New York, 1989), neither of which is cited nor even listed in the bibliography in the book under review.

Kathleen Sheldon
UCLA, Center for the Study of Women