Gender and Sexuality 6

The emancipation of women is not an act of charity, the result of a humanitarian or compassionate attitude. The liberation of women is a fundamental necessity for the revolution, the guarantee of its continuity and the precondition for its victory. The main objective of the revolution is to destroy the system of exploitation and build a new society which releases the potentialities of human beings, reconciling them with labour and with nature.

Stephanie Urdang (1989): And still they Dance: Women, War and the Struggle for Change in Mozambique. New York: Monthly Review Press, p. 96.

Samora Machel (1933-1986) was the first president of Mozambique after its independence in 1975. He died in a plane crash. The causes of the accident are unclear.

In many liberated countries, the post-decolonisation period inaugurated a time of transformation, during which political, cultural and economic utopias were articulated and put into practice. Feminism was often of great importance within decolonial struggles, enabling a joint fight against colonial supremacy which cut across gender boundaries. But even if women played a leading role during upheavals and revolutions (Mugo 2010), in subsequent phases, patriarchal role models were again invoked (Linhard 2005). The picture was taken at Machels funeral.

*Micere Mugo (2010): Die Rolle der Frauen in afrikanischen Befreiungsbewegungen – Ein illustratives Beispiel aus Kenia. In: Africavenir (Hrsg.): 50 Jahre afrikanische Un-Abhängigkeiten - Eine (selbst)kritische Bilanz, S. 48-55. *Tabea Alexa Linhard (2005): Fearless Women in the Mexican Revolution and Spanish Civil War. Columbia: University of Missouri Press. *Le Monde Diplomatique (Augusta Conchiglia, 11/2017): The mysterious death of Samora Machel.