Organisation
Gerhard Seibert
Abstract One of the objectives of the research project has been the characterisation and identification of forms of grassroots organisation of the impoverished inhabitants of the fast growing periphery of the cities of Maputo and Luanda in a comparative perspective. Social theorists have assumed that when in poor urban neighbourhoods public services provided by the municipality and the state are weak and unreliable or do not exist at all grassroots and neighbourhood-based initiatives are likely to emerge to tackle the various communal problems. Another assumption in this context has been that certain mechanisms of traditional collective actions stemming from the rural areas have reappeared in the urban environment in different adapted forms of mutual help, grassroots initiatives and associational life. The principal question has been if these assumptions hold true for the two capital cities where most inhabitants of the outskirts have come in recent years from rural areas, where mass poverty is mounting and infrastructure and municipal services are deficient. The data on the existing forms of autonomous organisation of the people in the periphery of Maputo stem from an analysis of more than 120 individual interviews with residents in the neighbourhoods Mafalala, Polana Caniço and Hulene B. The respective information with regard to Luanda stem from a similar survey conducted by other researchers in Angolan cities. There are no essential differences between poor neighbourhoods in Luanda and Maputo as far as self-organisation and collective action are concerned. In both cases far fewer collective initiatives have developed than was assumed, while family ties are most important for mutual help in emergency situations. Besides, various religious congregations play an important role in the daily lives of many poor city dwellers.
