Quando o chão é água: dinâmicas de transformação social em bairros alagados na cidade de Maputo e Matola

Abstract

Historically, residents of the cities of Maputo and Matola have adapted to floods by mobilising to spaces considered non-floodable and safe. However, the recurrent floods in these urban centres have brought about changes in people's lives. These changes are influenced by public sanitation policies and territorial planning on one hand, and by local adaptive strategies implemented by the residents in these areas on the other. This dissertation is a qualitative study based on ethnographic methods, examining how social relationships among families are altered by urban floods in Maputo and Matola. The analysis of social relationships and transformations caused by floods is approached in Anthropology and Sociology through Merleau-Ponty's phenomenological theory. Phenomenology aims to understand lived experiences, recognising the mutual constitution of individuals and culture. This perspective allows for the examination of human experiences and their relationship with the environment. Therefore, studying how social relationships are affected by urban floods in Maputo and Matola is significant as it helps us grasp the diverse paths of space appropriation, conflicts, support networks, daily practices of men and women, and the strategies adopted by families in the context of urban floods. This study prompts a reflection on urban intervention policies and how they are perceived and experienced by individuals in their daily lives. Besides spatial transformations, the study enables us to comprehend the changes in social relationships among individuals and their patterns of reproduction in the cities of Maputo and Matola