The international and domestic fabrics of an ideological illusion: the Socialist MPLA

Autores

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5965/2175180313342021e0102

Resumo

The political-ideological characterization and analysis of Angolan nationalist movements and the conflicts between them, has always been subject of major and passionate political-academic discussion, which became an important component of the nationalist movements’ international and domestic characterization and definition. The MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) rapidly acquired the epithet of leftist, Socialist and Marxist since the anti-colonial struggle through the independence and afterwards. However, during the so-called founding period of an officially proclaimed Socialist MPLA, in an apparent contradiction, the MPLA’s governing practice went objectively in an opposite direction, while still reinforcing that unquestioned epithet of Socialist. It is here argued that foreign attributed classifications (political and academic), influenced by the passionate political-idological struggles of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the civil war and the Cold War, ended up diplomatically-politically assumed (instrumentalised) by the movement itself, whereby an illusive characterization/identification prevailed, hampering a more objective analysis of the post-independence political practice. Our paper will focus on the contrast between the academic discussion on the political-ideological characterization of the MPLA (part I) and the governing practice of the party during the administration of the first President of the Republic, which was the founding period of the MPLA as a so-called Marxist-Leninist Socialist party (part II).

Keywords: Angola; MPLA; Socialism; Agostinho Neto administration; political orientation.

Downloads

Não há dados estatísticos.

Biografia do Autor

Nuno de Fragoso Vidal, University Institute of Lisbon (IUL)

PhD in Political Science by  King’s College London.

Senior Researcher at the Center for International Studies of the University Institute of Lisbon (CEI-IUL)

Referências

‘LAW FOR THE DISCIPLINING OF THE PRODUCTIVE PROCESS’: Law 11/75. Diário da República, Luanda, Ist series, 29, p. 2-4, 15 Dec. 1975.

AGOSTINHO NETO. Selecção de discursos do Camarada Presidente Agostinho Neto. Luanda: Publicações MPLA, 1979a.

AGOSTINHO NETO. Rádio Luanda on 12th February 1978. Africa Contemporary Record - ACR, London, v. 10, p. B323, 1979b. Angola section.

AGOSTINHO NETO. Associated Press, New York, p. 39, 2 May 1979c.

AGOSTINHO NETO. West Africa, London, p. 25, 23 Oct. 1978.

AGOSTINHO NETO. Statements produced in August 1975. Africa Contemporary Record - ACR, London, p. B423, 1976. Angola section.

AGOSTINHO NETO. The New York Times, New York, p. 14, 18 Sept. 1978a.

[ANGOLA SECTION]. Africa Contemporary Record - ACR, London, v. 11, p. B345, 1980.

BAYART, Jean-François. The State in Africa. London: Longman, 1989.

BHAGAVAN, Michael. Angola: prospects for ocialist transformation. Uppsala: Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, 1980.

BIRMINGHAM, David. A short history of modern Angola. London: Hurst, 2015.

BIRMINGHAM, David. Carnival at Luanda. Journal of African History, London, n. 29, p. 93-103, 1988b.

BIRMINGHAM, David. Frontline nationalism in Angola and Mozambique. London: James Currey, 1992.

BIRMINGHAM, David. Angola revisited. Journal of Southern African Studies, London, n. 15, p. 1-14, 1988a.

BITTENCOURT, Marcelo. Dos jornais às armas: trajetórias da contestação Angolana. Lisboa: Vega, 1999.

BITTENCOURT, Marcelo. Estamos Juntos!: o MPLA e a luta anticolonial - 1961-1974. Luanda: Kilombelombe, 2008.

BRIDGELAND, Fred. Jonas Savimbi: a key to Africa. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1986.

CAHEN, Michel; MESSIANT, Christine. Luttes politiques, tensions sociales et cultures ethniques: Luanda, de la lutte anti-portugaise aux agressions sud-Africaines: introduction. In: CAHEN, Michel (ed.). Bourgs et villes en Afrique Lusophone. Paris: L’Harmattan, 1989. p. 121-124.

CHABAL, Patrick. People’s war, state formation and revolution in Africa: a comparative analysis of Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and Angola. Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, London, n. 21, p. 104-125, 1983.

CHEYSSON, Claude. Statements produced in 1978. ACR – Africa Contemporary Record, London, v. 11, p. B346, 1980.

CLARENCE-SMITH, GERVASE. Class structure and class struggles in Angola in the 1970s. Journal of Southern African Studies, London, n. 7, p. 109-126, 1980.

CLARENCE-SMITH, Gervase. Le problème ethnique en Angola. In: CHRETIEN, J. P.; PRUNIER, Gerard (eds.). Les Ethnies ont une histoire. Paris: Karmale-AECT, 1989. p. 405-415.

CONCHIGLIA, Augusta. Angola. Afrique-Asie, Paris, n. 177, p. 23-25, 25 Dec. 1978.

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW. Diário da República, Luanda, Ist series, 31, p. 2, 7 Feb. 1978.

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW. Diary of the Republic, Luanda, Ist series, 11, p. 3, Nov. 1975.

DAVIDSON, Basil. In the eye of the storm, Angola’s people. London: Longman, 1972.

DIÁRIO DA REPÚBLICA. Iª série, Luanda, n. 12-45, de Jan. a Dec. 1979.

DIÁRIO DA REPÚBLICA. Iª série, Luanda, n. 79-94, de Nov. a Dec. 1978.

DIAS, Jill. Uma questão de identidade: respostas intelectuais às transformações económicas no seio da elite crioula da Angola Portuguesa entre 1870 e 1930. Revista Internacional de Estudos Africanos, Lisboa, p. 61-93, 1984.

GABRIEL, Claude. Angola: le tournant africain? Paris: Éditions La Brèche, 1978.

GUIMARÃES, Fernando Andresen. The origins of the Angolan civil war: foreign intervention and domestic political conflict. London: Macmillan Press, 1998.

HEIMER, Franz. Formation sociale, developpement economique et option socialiste en Angola. Genéve-Afrique, Genéve, n. XVIII, p. 31-43, 1980.

HEIMER, Franz. The decolonization conflict in Angola: an essay in political sociology. Geneva: Institut Universitaire de Hautes Études Internationales, 1979.

HEIMER, Franz. W. Educação e sociedade nas áreas rurais de Angola: resultados de um inquérito: apresentação do inquérito, estatísticas descritivas. Luanda: Missão de Inquéritos Agrícolas de Angola, 1972. v. 1.

HENDERSON, Lawrence. Angola, five centuries of conflict. London: Cornell University Press, 1979.

HODGES, Tony. Angola to the 1990’s, the potential for recovery: special report nº 1079. London: Economist Intelligence Unit, 1987.

LABAN, Michel. Viriato da Cruz: cartas de Pequim. Luanda: Chá de Caxinde, 2003.

LAMB, David. Angola moving to end isolation from the West and dependency on Cubans. Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, 3 Dec. 1978a.

LAMB, David. Cuban advisers downgraded; Angola turns pragmatic as economy founders. Herald Tribune, New York, 6 Dec. 1978b.

LEWIS, Flora. Angola. The New York Times, New York, 13 Dec. 1978.

MABEKO-TALI, Jean-Michel. Dissidences et Pouvoir d’État: le MPLA face a lui-même (1962-1977). 1996. Thesis. (PhD thesis) – Université Paris VII, Paris, 1996. Tome I.

MARCUM, John. Angola: War Again. Current History, Philadelphia, v. 92, n. 574, p. 218-223, 1993.

MARCUM, John. The Angolan Revolution, volume i, the anatomy of an explosion (1950-1962). Cambridge, Ma: MIT Press, 1969.

MARCUM, John. The Angolan revolution, volume ii, exile politics and Guerrilla Warfare (1962-1976). Cambridge, Ma: MIT Press, 1978.

MENEZES, Hugo Azancot. Percursos da luta de libertação nacional. Lisboa: Vega, 2017.

MESSIANT, Christine. 1961 - L’Angola coloniale, histoire et société: les prémisses du mouvement nationaliste. Paris: EHESS, thèse de doctorat en sociologie, 1983.

MESSIANT, Christine. 1961 L’Angola colonial, histoire et société: les premises du movement nationaliste. Bâle: Switzerland, 2006.

MESSIANT, Christine. Angola les voies de l'ethnisation et de la décomposition — II — transition à la démocratie ou marche à la guerre? l'épanouissement des deux 'partis armés (Mai 1991–Septembre 1992). Lusotopie, Aix-en-Provence, n. 3, p. 181-221, 1995a.

MESSIANT, Christine. Angola, les voies de l'ethnisation et de la décomposition — I — de la guerre à la paix (1975–1991): le conflit armé, les interventions internationales et le peuple angolais. Lusotopie, Aix-en-Provence, n. 1, p. 155-210, 1994.

MESSIANT, Christine. Luanda (1945-1961): colonisés, société coloniale et engagement nationaliste. In: CAHEN, Michel (ed.). Bourgs et villes en Afrique Lusophone. Paris: L’Harmattan, p. 125-199, 1989.

MESSIANT, Christine. MPLA et UNITA, processus de paix et logique de guerre. Politique Africaine, Paris, n. 57, p. 40-57, 1995b.

MEYNS, Peter. O desenvolvimento da economia Angolana a partir da independência: problemas da reconstrução nacional. Revista Internacional de Estudos Africanos, Lisboa, n. 2, p. 121-161, 1984.

MOHANTY, Susanna. Political development and ethnic identity in Africa, a study of Angola since 1960. London: Sangam Books, 1992.

MPLA’S POLITBURO MAY DAY STATEMENT. The Guardian-US, New York, p. 5, 9 May 1979.

OTTAWAY, David. Angola tries new pragmatism; Neto asks for help to repair economy. Herald Tribune, London, p.9, 27 Dec. 1978.

PATRÍCIO, José. Angola: EUA, os caminhos do bom senso. Luanda: Executive Center, 1997.

PAWSON, Lara. In the name of the people: Angola’s forgotten massacre. London: I.B. Tauris, 2014.

PEEL, Quentin. Angola states terms for investors. Financial Times, New York, p. 7, 11 Jul. 1979.

PELISSIER, René. La Colonie du Minotaure. Paris: Éditions Pelissier, 1978.

PRINCIPAIS RESULTADOS DO DESENVOLVIMENTO ECONÓMICO E SOCIAL DA REPÚBLICA POPULAR DE ANGOLA NO TRIÉNIO 1978/1980. In: ORIENTAÇÕES FUNDAMENTAIS PARA O DESENVOLVIMENTO ECONÓMICO E SOCIAL PARA O PERÍODO 1981-1985. Luanda: Publicações MPLA, 1980.

RÁDIO NACIONAL DE ANGOLA broadcast of 17th January 1978. Survey of World Broadcast - SWB, 19 Jan. 1979.

RELATÓRIO DO COMITÉ CENTRAL AO I CONGRESSO DO MPLA. Luanda: Publicações MPLA, 1977.

RELATÓRIO DO COMITÉ CENTRAL AO IO CONGRESSO EXTRAORDINÁRIO DO PARTIDO. Luanda: Publicações MPLA,1980.

RESOLUÇÕES E MENSAGENS DO IO CONGRESSO EXTRAORDINÁRIO DO MPLA–PT, Luanda: Publicações MPLA, 1980.

ROCHA, Edmundo; SOARES, Francisco; FERNANDES, Moisés (coord.). Angola: Viriato da Cruz: o homem e o mito. Luanda: Chá de Caxinde, 2008.

SIMONET, Henry. Angola. The New York Times, New York, p. 5, 18 Sep. 1978.

SOMERVILLE, Keith. Angola: politics, economics and society. London: Frances Pinter, 1986.

SOREMEKUN, Fola. Angola: the road to independence. Nigeria: University of Ife Press, 1983.

VANCE, Cyrus. Statements in June 1978. Africa Contemporary Record – ACR, London, p. B493-B494, 1980. Angola section.

VIDAL, Nuno. A génese da economia do petróleo e dos 'esquemas' impeditivos do desenvolvimento. In: VIDAL, Nuno; ANDRADE, Justino Pinto de (eds.). Economia política e desenvolvimento em Angola. Lisboa; Luanda: Chá de Caxinde, 2011. p. 9-66.

VIDAL, Nuno. O MPLA e a governação: entre internacionalismo progressista marxista e pragmatismo liberal-nacionalista. Estudos Ibero-Americanos, Porto Alegre, v. 42, n. 3, p. 815-854, 2016.

VIDAL, Nuno. The Angolan regime and the move to multiparty politics. In: CHABAL, Patrick.; VIDAL, Nuno. (eds.). Angola: the weight of history. London: Hurst, 2007. p. 124-174.

WHEELER, Douglas; PELISSIER, René. Angola. London: Pall Mall Press, 1970.

WOLFERS, Michael; BERGEROL, Jane. Angola in the Frontline. London: Zed Press, 1983.

WRIGHT, George. The destruction of a nation, United States’ policy toward Angola since 1945. London: Pluto Press, 1997.

YOUNG, Tom. The politics of development in Angola and Mozambique. African Affairs, Oxford, 87, p. 165-184, 1989.

ZENHA-RELA, Manuel. Angola entre o presente e o futuro. Lisboa: Escher, Agropromotora, 1992.

Downloads

Publicado

2021-11-04

Como Citar

VIDAL, Nuno de Fragoso. The international and domestic fabrics of an ideological illusion: the Socialist MPLA. Revista Tempo e Argumento, Florianópolis, v. 13, n. 34, p. e0102, 2021. DOI: 10.5965/2175180313342021e0102. Disponível em: https://revistas.udesc.br/index.php/tempo/article/view/2175180313342021e0102. Acesso em: 28 mar. 2024.