Postcolonial Portuguese Migration to Angola: Migrants or Masters?

163 Pages·2018·2.01 MB·English

by  Lisa Åkesson (auth.)

MIGRATION, DIASPORAS
AND CITIZENSHIP
Series Editors: Robin Cohen and
Zig Layton-Henry
POSTCOLONIAL
PORTUGUESE
MIGRATION
TO ANGOLA
Migrants or Masters?
Lisa Åkesson
Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship
Series editors
Robin Cohen
Department of International Development
University of Oxford
Oxford, UK
Zig Layton-Henry
Department of Politics and International Studies
University of Warwick
Coventry, UK
Editorial Board: Rainer Bauböck, European University Institute, Italy;
James F. Hollifield, Southern Methodist University, USA; Daniele Joly,
University of Warwick, UK; Jan Rath, University of Amsterdam, The
Netherlands.
The Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship series covers three important
aspects of the migration process: firstly, the determinants, dynamics and
characteristics of international migration. Secondly, the continuing attach-
ment of many contemporary migrants to their places of origin, signified by
the word ‘diaspora’, and thirdly the attempt, by contrast, to belong and
gain acceptance in places of settlement, signified by the word ‘citizenship’.
The series publishes work that shows engagement with and a lively appre-
ciation of the wider social and political issues that are influenced by inter-
national migration and encourages a comparative perspective.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14044
Lisa Åkesson
Postcolonial
Portuguese Migration
to Angola
Migrants or Masters?
Lisa Åkesson
School of Global Studies
University of Gothenburg
Gothenburg, Sweden
Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship
ISBN 978-3-319-73051-6 ISBN 978-3-319-73052-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73052-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018932754
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To Noa and Simon
A
cknowledgements
This book draws on the support from many persons in Luanda. I owe a
great and profound gratitude to my three excellent female research assis-
tants, who provided me with invaluable contacts and many insights.
Academic colleagues and friends at Universidade Agostinho Neto as well
as friends outside the academic circles offered me great hospitality and
shared their visions about how to navigate life in contemporary Luanda. I
also want to thank my Angolan and Portuguese interviewees who patiently
answered my many questions during conversations that sometimes lasted
for many hours. I would have liked to mention all of you by name, but the
obscure workings of the Angolan party-state and the long history of wide-
spread state control and repression made me decide to preserve the ano-
nymity of everyone who resides in Angola.
During my research visits in Luanda I was accompanied by Pétur
Skúlason Waldorff, Reykjavík University, and his collegiality and kindness
made my work much more easy and fun. At the initial stages of fieldwork,
Erika Eckeskog and Lena Sundh at the Swedish Embassy in Luanda
opened up for important contacts. I wrote the main part of the book dur-
ing the last months of 2016, when I was a visiting research fellow at the
International Migration Institute, University of Oxford, and I want to
thank colleagues and staff at IMI for providing such a great environment
for concentrated writing. I finalized the text during a stay at The Swedish
Institute in Athen’s guest house in Kavala, and also here I encountered
many nice people and a fantastic environment.
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Caroline Valente Cardoso, University of Gothenburg; Maria Eriksson
Baaz, Uppsala University; and Palgrave Macmillan’s anonymous reviewer
have carefully read and commented upon earlier drafts. I have benefitted
enormously from Carolina’s deep and detailed insights into the research
topic and Maria’s profound grounding in postcolonial theory.
The project has been financed by the Swedish Research Council.
c
ontents
1 I ntroduction: Setting the Scene 1
Luso-Angolan History 7
Creoles, Assimilados and Settlers 8
Independence, Retornados and Civil War 10
Peace, Reconstruction, Economic Boom and Bust 11
Deep Entanglements: Contemporary Political and Economic
Relations Between Luanda and Lisbon 14
Trajectories of Portuguese Migrants in Luanda 16
Portuguese and Angolan Identities 22
Methodological Considerations 24
References 29
2 Postcolonial Encounters in a Lusotropical World 33
Hybridity and Ambivalence 37
Portuguese Postcolonial Studies and the Lusotropical Ideology 41
Lusotropicalism 42
Celebrating Hybridity (or Not): Sex and Race
in the Empire 43
Postlusotropicalism in the Shadow of a Lost Empire 46
Postlusotropicalism in Contemporary Luanda 48
Stories About the Colonial Past 48
Postlusotropical Positions and Contemporary Relations 52
References 54
ix
x CONTENTS
3 M obile Subjects 57
Migrants? 59
Expatriates? 60
Return? 63
Returnees and Newcomers 66
Return as a National Re-conquest 67
Integrated? 69
North-South Migration and the Familiar Concepts of Mobility 73
References 74
4 Changing Relations of Power and the Party-State 77
The Party-State and the Angolan Business Owners 78
Securing Immigration Documents 79
Whiteness as a Marker of Potential Undocumented
Migrants 82
Encounters with the Traffic Police 85
Conflict-Ridden Business Relations 86
Corruption and Portuguese Business 89
Voices on Changing Power Relations 91
References 93
5 The Power in and of Labour Relations 95
Labour Relations in Colonial Times 96
Workplace Hierarchies 99
Portuguese Getting Jobs Without Proper Qualifications 101
Motives for Hiring Portuguese 102
Salary Differences 105
The Workplace as a Primary Arena of Postcolonial Encounters 107
References 111
6 Identities at Work 113
“The Laid-Back Angolan” 114
Cultural Racism 116
“The Angolan Reality” 117
The Postcolonial Legacy and Beyond 119