'Goats eat where they are tied up': illicit and habitual corruption in Mozambique. Issue 158 (2nd October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tvedten, Inge; Picardo, Rachi
• Is Part Of: Review of African political economy. Volume 45:Issue 158(2018)
• Page Start: 541
• Page End: 557
• Publication Date: 2018-10-02
• Subjects: Mozambique -- corruption -- poverty -- social exclusion -- anthropology; Mozambique -- corruption -- pauvreté -- exclusion sociale -- anthropologie; Africa -- Economic conditions -- Periodicals; Africa -- Social conditions -- Periodicals; 330.96
• DOI: 10.1080/03056244.2018.1546686
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-6244

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The article shows that corruption is structural and omnipresent in Mozambican society, effectively legitimising corrupt practices at all levels. Using an anthropological approach, it argues that small-scale corruption has the most immediate effects for the urban and rural poor and is so common that it has become an integrated part of daily life, or 'habitual'. While most of the poor relate to corruption through tacit acceptance and acts of compliance, its practical implications are most severe for the very poorest, who cannot afford to take part in corrupt exchanges and are excluded from vital social relationships and social services.