Mozambique, CONCP and transnational solidarities: Third-worldism from the Cold War to the challenge of the “Global South” in the 21st century

Corrado Tornimbeni (University of Bologna) discusses his research on South-South political and economic cooperation in historical and contemporary perspective, with a focus on the case of Mozambique. Discussant will be Giovanni Agostinis (Unibo).

Talk's abstract

The abstention of a large number of African countries on the occasion of the UN GA Resolution condemning Russia for the conflict in Ukraine, the proposals for the enlargement of the BRICS group during the Johannesburg summit and the divisions within African and Arab countries over the conflict in Palestine reveal, among other elements, the influence of the historical relations of political solidarity and economic cooperation between countries of the Global South, on the one hand, and their connections with various institutional and civil society actors in the North, on the other hand. Following the debate on the trajectory of Third-worldism, it can be said that there is an urgent need to grasp, through an historical perspective, the framework of international relations, political solidarity networks, economic cooperation projects and development models between countries of the Global South (and their “northern connections”) across the end of the Cold War and of the XX century. This paper examines, from a historical perspective, a case-study of the complex web of transnational political solidarities that backed the struggle for independence of an African country during the cold war era: the liberation war of FRELIMO in Mozambique and its international diplomacy across the cold war fronts that contributed, inter alia, to define the contents of non-alignment and afro-asiatism. This perspective will also take into consideration the participation of FRELIMO in CONCP, an alliance of liberation movements of the Portuguese colonies in Africa that, in the post-Cold War period, was somehow resurrected within the larger world grouping of the Community of Portuguese-speaking countries (CPLP).

Speaker short bio 

Corrado Tornimbeni is Associate Professor of History and Institutions of Africa. His current research interests include: African nationalism and international politics in southern Africa; citizenship and democratization in sub-Saharan Africa; and the history and politics of Portuguese-speaking Africa