Making others (un)equal: The social ethics of Scandinavian enclaving in Maputo, Mozambique

Abstract

This article explores practices and ideologies of equality as the central mechanisms through which cosmopolitan Scandinavians in the capital of Mozambique simultaneously build themselves as a community and sever relationships with locals, thereby constructing a socioeconomic, cultural and moral enclave within the city. Scandinavian sociality is predicated upon the absence of overt signs of social differentiation and these practices are reproduced in their interactions in Maputo. Egalitarian values, paradoxically, allow Scandinavians to mask the structures of inequality inherent to local society and engage in structurally unequal relations in which they act as if all interactions were between autonomous equals, possessed of equivalent social and economic capital. Specifically, the article explores the ways through which Scandinavian expatriates justify the use of domestic labour while refusing to recognise the implication of this structurally unequal employment in the local context. By insisting on equality and autonomy as the basis for social interactions, Scandinavians reject local forms of constructing relationships that are predicated upon the recognition of unequal positions and an obligation of responsibility towards dependents. They thereby refuse to engage with local expectations and understandings of labour relations and fail to recognise the implications of their position within the Mozambican social hierarchy.