This article examines the history of development and forced labor in Barue, a rural district in central Mozambique, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Barue was designated as a labor reserve, whose economic role was to send forced workers into migrant labor elsewhere. This was slated to change in the early 1960s, with the rise of a new developmental discourse in the Portuguese empire. This discourse promised to transform the economic model of Barue and other rural districts, by outlawing forced labor, minimizing migrant labor, and promoting rural agriculture. The Portuguese government, however, lacked the resources and the commitment necessary to actually change Barue's economy. Instead of development transforming Barue's economic model, the economic model transformed development, which was redefined as a series of modest social and economic improvements which neither changed Barue's economy nor reduced its dependence upon migrant labor. Nonetheless, while this narrower definition of “development” did not fulfill the transformative promise of its discursive progenitor, it was compatible with development's broader objective of defending and justifying the Portuguese empire against the threat of decolonization. The ultimate goal of safeguarding Portuguese rule made it possible to reconcile a discourse founded on change with a reality marked by continuity.

中文翻译：

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“这样做只是为了帮助”：莫桑比克巴鲁的发展与强迫劳动，1959年至1965年

本文考察了1950年代末和1960年代初莫桑比克中部农村地区Barue的发展和强迫劳动的历史。在整个1940年代和1950年代，Barue被指定为劳动力储备，其经济作用是将强迫工人送往其他地方的农民工。随着葡萄牙帝国的新发展论述的兴起，这种情况有望在1960年代初发生改变。这种话语有望通过禁止强迫劳动，减少移民劳动和促进农村农业来改变巴鲁和其他农村地区的经济模式。但是，葡萄牙政府缺乏真正改变巴鲁经济的必要资源和承诺。经济模式并没有改变巴鲁的经济模式，而是改变了发展，重新定义为一系列适度的社会和经济改善，既没有改变Barue的经济，也没有减少其对移民劳动力的依赖。但是，尽管对“发展”的狭义定义没有实现其话语祖先的变革性承诺，但它与发展的更广泛目标相一致，即捍卫和证明葡萄牙帝国免遭非殖民化的威胁。维护葡萄牙统治的最终目标使以变革为基础的话语与具有连续性的现实成为可能。虽然“发展”这个狭义的定义不能满足其话语祖先的转型承诺，但它与发展的更广泛目标相一致，即捍卫和证明葡萄牙帝国免受非殖民化威胁是合理的。维护葡萄牙统治的最终目标使以变革为基础的话语与具有连续性的现实成为可能。虽然“发展”这个狭义的定义不能满足其话语祖先的转型承诺，但它与发展的更广泛目标相一致，即捍卫和证明葡萄牙帝国免受非殖民化威胁是合理的。维护葡萄牙统治的最终目标使以变革为基础的话语与具有连续性的现实成为可能。