Culture in Chaos: an anthropology of the social condition in war by Stephen C. Lubkemann (review)

Culture in Chaos is insightful ethnography and a welcome addition to anthropological studies of conflict, migration and Mozambique. Building on multi-sited fieldwork conducted in Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe between 1995 and 2002, Lubkemann provides a nuanced account of the social processes that gave shape to how ‘Machazians’ (those who trace their origins to Machaze District in central Mozambique) conceptualized and dealt with Mozambique’s civil war (1977–92). One of the primary goals of Lubkemann’s work is to re-theorize the social existence of those under prolonged war and displacement (p. 1). The author particularly takes issue with the approach that considers violence as the only cause of concern for residents of what he terms a ‘warscape’; instead, violence tends to punctuate rather than characterize lives, and war reshapes but does not eradicate pre-existing social strategies and cultural understandings. This seemingly simple but often neglected point is refined by historical depth and long-term research engagement that stand as a useful counterpoint to the generalizations found in some other studies of Mozambique’s civil war.

One of the key frameworks the author employs to understand how everyday life for Machazians is conducted under conditions of war is ‘structural violence’. By this he does not simply mean inequality, but instead a dynamic process of structural change where actors can no longer achieve the kind of life to which they believe they are entitled (p. 112). Lubkemann traces this process historically, from Portuguese colonialism in Machaze, which was characterized by periodic episodes of repression combined with overall neglect, to ambitious efforts at profound transformation inaugurated by Frelimo (Liberation Front of Mozambique) in the early post-independence period. Frelimo’s attempts at carrying out a ‘social revolution’ combined with deteriorating economic prospects and the closing of migratory routes to South Africa alienated many Machazians. According to the author, the primary political goal of Machazians was not to transform the central state, but to banish it. Thus many supported the Renamo (Mozambican National Resistance) rebels because they read the movement’s lack of political content as a laissez faire ideology that would leave them in peace to achieve their goals with a minimum of harassment. It would be interesting here to know more about the reactions of Machazian migrants to the interventionist state in South Africa, both during apartheid and under the ANC. This small objection aside, Lubkemann’s use of the concept of structural violence is more comprehensive than those usually associated with Paul Farmer or Nancy Scheper-Hughes. The author’s focus on local ideas of the ways in which life should be, and the social relationships that underpin these ideas, helps to explain why many Machazians believe that they cannot return ‘home’ as the war remains too ‘hot’ years after the declaration of peace. Although the shooting has stopped and the state has been transformed, the memories, enmities and alliances remain – and it seems, as Lubkemann argues, that the war, or at least the social dynamics that grew from it, have become a way of life for his informants.

One of the primary strengths of this book is the discussion of migration. The author specifically takes issue with a trend in studies of refugees and forced migration to see violence as a causal force that compels people to flee as an unplanned, instinctual reaction. As he points out, this does not explain why some people flee and others do not. Instead, the book focuses on migratory patterns of the Machazians for over a century, detailing the changing social dynamics that underpin migration and how these are embedded in generational and gendered struggles. Not only does this help to demonstrate who can move and who cannot, and why, but it also provides a fascinating discussion of successful and unsuccessful ways to legitimize social innovations in the existing cultural schema, points that go beyond debates relating specifically...