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Alternative Expressions of Citizen Voices: The Protest Song and Popular Engagements with the Mozambican State

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posted on 2024-09-05, 20:42 authored by Anésio Manhiça, Alex Shankland, Kátia Taela, Euclides Gonçalves, Catija Maivasse, Mariz Tadros
This study examines Mozambican popular music to investigate three questions: Are notions of empowerment and accountability present in popular music in Mozambique? If so, what can these existing notions of empowerment and accountability reveal about relations between citizens and state institutions in general and about citizen-led social and political action in particular? In what ways is popular music used to support citizen mobilisation in Mozambique? The discussion is based on an analysis of 46 protest songs, interviews with musicians, music producers and event promoters as well as field interviews and observations among audiences at selected popular music concerts and public workshops in Maputo city. Secondary data were drawn from radio broadcasts, digital media, and social networks. The songs analysed were widely played in the past two decades (1998–2018), a period in which three different presidents led the country. Our focus is on the protest song, conceived as those musical products that are concerned with public affairs, particularly public policy and how it affects citizens’ social, political and economic life, and the relationship between citizens and the state.

Funding

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

History

Publisher

Institute of Development Studies

Citation

Manhiça, A.; Shankland, A.; Taela, K.; Gonçalves, E.; Maivasse, C. and Tadros, M. (2020) Alternative Expressions of Citizen Voices: The Protest Song and Popular Engagements with the Mozambican State, IDS Working Paper 541, Brighton: Institute of Development Studies

Series

IDS Working Paper 541

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

IDS Item Types

IDS Working Paper

Copyright holder

Institute of Development Studies and Kaleidoscopio – Research in Public Policy and Culture 2020

Country

Mozambique

Language

en

IDS team

Power and Popular Politics

Project identifier

Default project::9ce4e4dc-26e9-4d78-96e9-15e4dcac0642::600

Identifier ISBN

978-1-78118-712-8

Identifier ISSN

2040-0209

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