ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the patterns of interaction among different social groups, the process by which Mozambique became incorporated into the world economy, and the efforts of various Mozambican societies and social classes within them to maintain their autonomy in the face of Portuguese imperialism. It highlights the various, and at times contradictory, strategies the colonial state used to extract Mozambique’s human and natural resources and the social cost the Mozambicans paid. The book outlines the new nation’s efforts to pursue an independent foreign policy in an increasingly hostile international environment. It examines Front for the Liberation of Mozambique’s efforts to set in motion an economic transformation based on broad socialist principles and the serious difficulties that have frustrated many of its programs.
