The Rise of Modern Angolan Parties – UNITA and a Failed Growth Model

During the 1960’s the extension of the capitalist mode of production fastened the disintegration of the Angolan “traditional society”. Angola’s high-rate growth was made possible because huge oil and diamond rents were taxed and reinvested locally. With these “development polices” which the colon...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: SANTOS Maciel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute for African Studies 2023-06-01
Series:Ученые записки Института Африки Российской академии наук
Subjects:
Online Access:https://africajournal.ru/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Zapiski-2-2023-3-28-43-Maciel-Santos.pdf
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850201533670490112
author SANTOS Maciel
author_facet SANTOS Maciel
author_sort SANTOS Maciel
collection DOAJ
description During the 1960’s the extension of the capitalist mode of production fastened the disintegration of the Angolan “traditional society”. Angola’s high-rate growth was made possible because huge oil and diamond rents were taxed and reinvested locally. With these “development polices” which the colonial State expected would support the fading branches of agro-industry and stabilize the political status quo, there was a shift of the main social contradiction. It was no longer a “central” versus “tributary” cleavage but rather labour-capital one within “modern society”. Ideologically, although transitional languages expressed by “racial” or cultural phenotypes were still in use, there was now room for different political standings. The nationalist movements, which started as small dissent fractions within the “central society“ were therefore forced to change their tactics in order to encompass the support of rising classes and their social mobility aspirations. This paper focuses on UNITA, whose operational circumstances (guerrilla-based operations inside Central Angola) made it easier to fit into the moving social landscape. Some evidences of UNITA ideological stand and of its 1974-1975 electoral behaviour (a period when the guerrilla movements were facing metamorphose into political parties) show that the factor “ethnicity”, widely used as a key variable of African politics, needs reviewing, at least in this particular time in Angola.
format Article
id doaj-art-45f126cd2f4c4414a8e117b14c307d0f
institution OA Journals
issn 2412-5717
3034-3496
language English
publishDate 2023-06-01
publisher Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute for African Studies
record_format Article
series Ученые записки Института Африки Российской академии наук
spelling doaj-art-45f126cd2f4c4414a8e117b14c307d0f2025-08-20T02:11:58ZengRussian Academy of Sciences, Institute for African StudiesУченые записки Института Африки Российской академии наук2412-57173034-34962023-06-0192284310.31132/2412-5717-2023-63-2-28-43The Rise of Modern Angolan Parties – UNITA and a Failed Growth ModelSANTOS Maciel0Centro de Estudos Africanos da Universidade do PortoDuring the 1960’s the extension of the capitalist mode of production fastened the disintegration of the Angolan “traditional society”. Angola’s high-rate growth was made possible because huge oil and diamond rents were taxed and reinvested locally. With these “development polices” which the colonial State expected would support the fading branches of agro-industry and stabilize the political status quo, there was a shift of the main social contradiction. It was no longer a “central” versus “tributary” cleavage but rather labour-capital one within “modern society”. Ideologically, although transitional languages expressed by “racial” or cultural phenotypes were still in use, there was now room for different political standings. The nationalist movements, which started as small dissent fractions within the “central society“ were therefore forced to change their tactics in order to encompass the support of rising classes and their social mobility aspirations. This paper focuses on UNITA, whose operational circumstances (guerrilla-based operations inside Central Angola) made it easier to fit into the moving social landscape. Some evidences of UNITA ideological stand and of its 1974-1975 electoral behaviour (a period when the guerrilla movements were facing metamorphose into political parties) show that the factor “ethnicity”, widely used as a key variable of African politics, needs reviewing, at least in this particular time in Angola.https://africajournal.ru/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Zapiski-2-2023-3-28-43-Maciel-Santos.pdfangolaclass struggleethnicityunita
spellingShingle SANTOS Maciel
The Rise of Modern Angolan Parties – UNITA and a Failed Growth Model
Ученые записки Института Африки Российской академии наук
angola
class struggle
ethnicity
unita
title The Rise of Modern Angolan Parties – UNITA and a Failed Growth Model
title_full The Rise of Modern Angolan Parties – UNITA and a Failed Growth Model
title_fullStr The Rise of Modern Angolan Parties – UNITA and a Failed Growth Model
title_full_unstemmed The Rise of Modern Angolan Parties – UNITA and a Failed Growth Model
title_short The Rise of Modern Angolan Parties – UNITA and a Failed Growth Model
title_sort rise of modern angolan parties unita and a failed growth model
topic angola
class struggle
ethnicity
unita
url https://africajournal.ru/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Zapiski-2-2023-3-28-43-Maciel-Santos.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT santosmaciel theriseofmodernangolanpartiesunitaandafailedgrowthmodel
AT santosmaciel riseofmodernangolanpartiesunitaandafailedgrowthmodel