north to south migration - nomos shop

North to South Migration

Asaf Augusto

Politik und Gesellschaft in Afrika l Politics and Society in Africa l 10

Portuguese Labour Migration to Angola

Bayreuther Studien zu Politik und Gesellschaft in AfrikaBayreuth Studies in Politics and Society in Africa

is edited by

Institut für Afrikastudien (IAS) der Universität BayreuthDr. Antje DanielProf. Dr. Alexander Stroh

Volume 10

The peer-reviewed series “Bayreuth Studies in Politics and Society in Africa” publishes research about socio-political processes and structures in African societies. The editors welcome innovative monographs and guest edited volumes in either English or German which discuss historical and current transformations in African countries with an empirical or theoretical focus. The series is open to case studies and comparative research from the social sciences and related academic disciplines.

BUT_Augusto_8266-6.indd 2BUT_Augusto_8266-6.indd 2 23.04.21 14:2723.04.21 14:27

https://www.nomos-shop.de/isbn/978-3-8487-8266-6

Portuguese Labour Migration to Angola

North to South Migration

Asaf Augusto



The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de

a.t.: Bayreuth, Univ., BIGSAS, Diss., 2020

ISBN 978-3-8487-8266-6 (Print) 978-3-7489-2066-3 (ePDF)

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-3-8487-8266-6 (Print) 978-3-7489-2066-3 (ePDF)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataAugusto, AsafNorth to South MigrationPortuguese Labour Migration to AngolaAsaf Augusto177 pp.Includes bibliographic references.

ISBN 978-3-8487-8266-6 (Print) 978-3-7489-2066-3 (ePDF)

1st Edition 2021 © Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, Baden-Baden, Germany 2021. Overall responsibility for manufacturing (printing and production) lies with Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG.

This work is subject to copyright. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Under § 54 of the German Copyright Law where copies are made for other than private use a fee is payable to “Verwertungs gesellschaft Wort”, Munich.

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To my lovely wifeSonja Augusto


Table of Contents

List of Figures 11

Acronyms 13

Abstract 15

Acknowledgements 17

Introduction and research aimsChapter 1: 19

Why study Portuguese migration to Angola?1.1 19Research aims and questions1.2 27Setting the scene: facts and figures on Portuguese migration toAngola

1.329

Overview of the thesis1.4 31

Migration dynamics in the global North and South:Portuguese migration to Angola

Chapter 2:33

Introduction2.1 33Challenging the Northern bias in migration theory2.2 33

The reduction of North-South migration to the historicalevents of colonialism

2.2.134

The overemphasis on South-North migration2.2.2 35The neglect of South-South migration dynamics2.2.3 37

South to North migration dynamics: Eurocentrism andOrientalism

2.338

Perspectives from the South: towards a critical understandingof asymmetries

2.442

North to South migration: ‘expats’ and others2.5 46Portuguese migration to Angola and the Lusophone migrationsystem

2.648

7


Perspectives and myths: postcolonialism, coloniality, the workethic and social capital

2.750

Conclusion2.8 55

Research methodsChapter 3: 57

Introduction3.1 57The challenge of researching North-South migration3.2 58Discourses framing Portuguese migration to Angola3.3 63Arriving in the field3.4 65Research techniques: semi-structured interviews and participantobservation

3.573

Characteristics of the participants3.6 77Positionality and reflexivity3.7 78Conclusion3.8 83

The legacy of the myth of Lusotropicalism in AngolaChapter 4: 84Introduction4.1 84The roots of Lusotropicalism4.2 85The Portuguese colonial adoption of Lusotropicalism4.3 87Lusotropicalism as a colonial propaganda ideology4.4 88Lusotropicalism and colonial reforms4.5 90Myths of the non-racist Portuguese colonial system4.6 92Lusotropicalism in postcolonial Portugal and black migration4.7 97Postcolonial Lusotropicalism and the linguistic legacy inAngola

4.8100

The other side of the Portuguese language legacy inpostcolonial Angola

4.8.1102

The institutionalisation of the Portuguese language in theformer colonies

4.8.2104

The politics of Portuguese names in postcolonial Angola4.8.3 106The legacy of family networks in postcolonial Angola4.9 109The question of race in postcolonial Angola4.10 111The myth of common descent in postcolonial Angola4.11 113

Table of Contents

8


The taboo of semi-stratified postcolonial Angola4.12 117Conclusion4.13 120

The coloniality of power and Portuguese migration toAngola

Chapter 5:122

Introduction5.1 122The ethnic capital of Portuguese migrants in Angola5.2 122Latent conflicts between Portuguese migrants and Angolannationals

5.3127

Portuguese migrants dealing with the Angolanbureaucratic system

5.3.1129

Analysing and contextualising claims of anti-Portuguesediscrimination in light of the coloniality of power

5.3.2131

The coloniality of power and being: situational skills in unevengeographies

5.4135

The coloniality of power and the marketing of ‘white bodies’5.5 139The trust in white bodies5.6 140The discourse of the Portuguese migrant work ethic5.7 143The discourse of the lazy native5.8 145The issue of Portuguese migrants as agents of development5.9 147Conclusion5.10 149

ConclusionChapter 6: 151Chapter highlights6.1 151General findings6.2 154What can we learn from Portuguese migration to Angola?6.3 157Contribution to the disciplines of Migration Studies andGeography

6.4159

Suggestions for further research6.5 162Policy contribution6.6 163

References 165

Appendix 175

Table of Contents

9


List of Figures

Figure 1: Map of Angola showing Lubango 66

Figure 2: Map of Portugal showing Lisbon 72

11


Acronyms

CPLP Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa – Communityof Portuguese Language Countries

EU European UnionFNLA Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola – The National

Front for the Liberation of AngolaIOM International Organization for MigrationMPLA Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola – The People's

Movement for the Liberation of AngolaPIDE Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado – International

and State Defence PoliceUNITA União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola –

National Union for the Total Independence of AngolaUSA United States of AmericaUK United Kingdom

13


Abstract

The economic crisis which has affected the southern EU countries since2008 set in motion new migration trends. In the case of Portugal, post-cri-sis migration has been in two main directions: northwards to the moreprosperous European countries and southwards to former Portuguesecolonies in Africa, notably the oil-producing state of Angola. This thesislooks at Portuguese migration to Angola as a North-South migration andcombines different theoretical frameworks to explain the dynamics in-volved. Concepts relevant to this migration include the notions of Portu-gal as ‘semi-peripheral’ within European and global migration systems. Inspite of Portugal’s position within the global migration system, this thesisdemonstrates that Portugal’s colonial legacy – especially ‘Lusotropicalism’and ‘coloniality’ – plays a significant role in defining this migration asNorth-South. Moreover, concepts such as power geometry and uneven ge-ographies of development are useful to explain this migration. Portuguesemigrants in Angola enjoy a certain ethnic capital, particularly in Lubango,where my field research was carried out, because they are white and comefrom Europe. In other respects, too, the intersection between past andpresent is important to understand this migration. Discursively this migra-tion is dominated by several myths, such as that of the Portuguese workethic, the myth of the ‘lazy native’ and the myth of skills-based migration.These myths are used as justification for why Portuguese migrants, even incases where they are less skilled, still enjoy certain advantages and privi-leges in comparison to their Angolan colleagues.

15


Acknowledgements

First, I would like to show my profound appreciation for the support pro-vided by my supervisor Prof. Dr Martin Doevenspeck. I am grateful that heagreed to supervise my thesis and provide office space here at the Universi-ty of Bayreuth and for being willing to provide the financial support letterswhen they were needed. Second, I am extremely grateful for the funda-mental supervision work of Prof. Dr Russell King, University of Sussex,UK. I have to mention that he not only supervised the work despite thedistance from Bayreuth but he tolerated my many incomplete drafts andread bits of the thesis on numerous occasions. I appreciate the incrediblesupport from Mrs Jenny Money, formerly of the University of Sussex, UK.Aside from editorial support and encouragement to continue writing, shehosted me when I visited Prof. Dr Russell King in Sussex. Next, I wouldlike to thank Prof. Dr Jorge Malheiros, University of Lisbon, Portugal,who provided important literature on Lusotropicalism and African mi-grants in Portugal.

I am also grateful to the Bayreuth International Graduate School ofAfrican Studies (BIGSAS) for providing financial support for this studyand a stipend. I equally appreciate the fantastic support of the BIGSAS ad-ministration. This thesis could not have happened without the wonderfulsupport of family and friends. Special praise goes to my lovely wife, SonjaAugusto, and my active boys, Jonathan Augusto and Samuel Augusto.They made important sacrifices so that I could be away for fieldwork andspend long hours in the office. My father, the Rev’d José Augusto, and mymother, Mrs. Joaquina Noé Augusto, have been supportive from both nearand afar. My in-laws, Klaus and Angela Schmidt, as well Ms BarbaraSchiessl, have provided different forms of support for which I am forevergrateful. I also appreciate my numerous BIGSAS colleagues for the livelydiscussions that inspired me to think beyond my field of research. I would,in addition, like to extend my gratitude to Dr Serawit Debele, Dr MatthewSabbi, Dr Gilbert Shang Ndi, Dr Florian Stoll, Paddy Kinyera, KamalDonko, Julian Hollstegge and Alžběta Šváblová.

17


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