In 2008, at February 5th and in 2010, at September 1st and 2nd, Maputo was the scenery of two popular uprisings of major proportions, each one was motivated by general discontent against the economic readjustments, the government tax, that would increase significantly the living costs of maputenses. This situation mobilized the elite, both political and intellectual, to hurriedly develop some hypotheses that could explain these events. The intention of this paper is to contrast these hypotheses, thereafter, to propose an analysis that will enable a more omnibus understanding about the causes that would had led the people to the streets. Therefore, the departure point is the assertion that the State would be the historical product of violent conflicts, whose consequences could be perceived on the fear and distrust that the people developed, and from which the State would be less like a facilitator than a competitor invasive and predatory.
informal sector; Mozambique; postcolonial State; social uprising