The next Permanent Seminar on Post-Colonial Studies will take place on April 22, at 3 pm. “National Reconciliation in Mozambique. The importance of the DDR (Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration) process” is the theme. José Castiano and Clério da Cruz, from the Pedagogical University are invited.
“National Reconciliation: The Place and Role of the current DDR”
Mozambique is a country that, for its birth (1975) had to make a War of Liberation (1964 to 1974) and, since then until today, it has experienced other wars, the most bloody being the so-called “war of 16 years” (1976- 1992). These internal wars have always been mediated by armistice signatures in the form of “agreements” and declarations of “truce” that invariably end in “handshakes” without, however, stopping the lives of defenceless people. Today, same Mozambique is facing another war in the North of the country that has all the characteristics of terrorism (after being classified as “insurgency”).
Therefore, it is pertinent to ask yourself in the following terms: what does the current process of Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) represent on the road to the institutionalization of the National Dialogue, presupposed for an effective reconciliation? How can we move from the handshakes of the signatures in the “agreements” and “truces” to a climate of confidence in permanent and institutionalized dialogue? How can we move from disarming hands to disarming minds? What are the conditions and possibilities for a reconciling agenda?
José P. Castiano, Mozambican, full professor in the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at the Pedagogical University. He holds the chair of African Philosophy. education speciality. In terms of teaching activities in institutions such as Eduardo Mondlane University (master’s in philosophy), University of Barcelona (doctoral seminar), Agostinho Neto University (African Philosophy in the master’s in philosophy), Police Science Academy (Sociological Theories), Polytechnic University ( Philosophy in Doctoral Courses), University of Coimbra (Doctoral Seminars), etc. Among the main published works, stand out From the Spirit of Tradition to the Spirit of Reconciliation. Maputo, 2021 (in print) and O Inter-Munthu: A Philosophy of Reconciliation in Search of the Minimum (in press).
The Reconciliation Process in Mozambique: From DDR to the Challenges for an Ethics of Reconciliation
The presentation aims to discuss the ethical-philosophical assumptions that guide and guide the process of reconciliation in Mozambique, the same is part of a set of reflections that Mozambican society in general, and academia, in particular, have been developing in search of solutions capable of elucidating the paths that Mozambicans must follow in order to achieve Definitive Peace and National Reconciliation.
It is in a context of hurt and social wounds that have yet to heal that today we are moving towards the DDR (Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration) initiative, DDR is a political initiative that poses immense challenges to the national debate on reconciliation since it is based on assumptions politicians who should guide the coexistence between former Renamo guerrillas and the society to which these men supposedly wounded the soul. In this perspective, we consider an approach according to which the problem of reconciliation in Mozambique does not end in legal-political processes but extends to an ethical dimension of reconciliation, a set of questions emerges: what challenges are posed for such ethics? To what extent does the DDR respond to the ethical assumption of reconciliation?
Clério da Cruz has a degree in Philosophy Teaching from the Pedagogical University; Master in Public Administration and Development by the Higher Institute of International Relations, effective professor in the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at the Pedagogical University of Maputo; coordinator of the lecture cycle committee.
This seminar results from a partnership with the Curricular Unit of History of Africa, from the Degree in History of the University of Minho.
The session will take place via Zoom.
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