Paper short abstract:

This paper draws on ‘governance diaries’ research in Mozambique to examine how a long history of armed violence has shaped the sources of authority and legitimacy and the meanings of empowerment and accountability mobilised by citizens seeking greater responsiveness in the provision of public goods.

Paper long abstract:

Over the past fifty years, the history of Mozambique has been marked by recurrent cycles of armed violence. From the anticolonial war in the early 1960s, through the civil war between the late 1970s and early 1990s, to the post-electoral political conflicts and the recent jihadist insurgency, armed violence has been one of the most present features in the process of state building in Mozambique. As a result, the path of violence has deeply affected institutions and public authority not only from the point of view of legitimacy, but also with regard to public goods provision, as people experience governance from diverse sources, beyond state institutions. Drawing on extensive field work in two provinces (Tete and Nampula), this paper explores the use of governance diaries methodology to investigate the interactions between poor households and authority, probing on how they view the multiple institutions that govern their lives and how they conceptualize authority itself. It examines the implications of the limited opportunities for the poorest and most marginalised to secure direct access to holders of public authority, and their consequent reliance on a range of intermediaries. It also looks into the sources of authority and legitimacy and the meanings of empowerment and accountability and interrogates the way empowerment and accountability are mobilized in fragile, conflict and violence-affected settings like Mozambique.