POST-ELECTORAL PROTESTS IN MOZAMBIQUE (2023–2024): COLLECTIVE ACTION REPERTOIRES, CONTENTIOUS CYCLES, AND LEGITIMACY DISPUTES

Abstract

This article analyzes the post-electoral protests in Mozambique (2023–2024), focusing on repertoires of collective action, contentious cycles, and disputes over institutional legitimacy. Grounded in the perspective of Contentious Politics (Tilly, 1995; Tarrow, 2011) and incorporating contributions from Alonso (2017), the study interprets political contestation as a relational and historically situated process, mediated by the interaction between challengers, authorities, and political opportunities. This is a qualitative study combining bibliographic and documentary analysis, drawing on institutional sources, reports from human rights organizations, and digital records of mobilization and repression. The findings indicate that the death of rapper Azagaia, the 2023 municipal elections, and the 2024 general elections constituted a cumulative contentious cycle, characterized by youth mobilization, hybrid repertoires (street demonstrations, symbolic performances, and digital activism), and escalating state repression. The study concludes that the contestation went beyond isolated episodes, revealing a crisis of legitimacy within the political system, the coordination capacity of youth movements, and the transformation of social frustrations into structured collective action, thereby highlighting new forms of political participation and contestation in the country.