Control, politics and identity in the Angolan Civil War

Abstract

his article explores political mobilization, legitimacy, and identity in the Angolan Central Highlands from the anti-colonial struggle of the 1960s until the end of the civil war in 2002. It examines how the rival movements, MPLA and UNITA, competed for support, and considers the nature of the relationships between political-military elites and the Angolan people. Whereas much scholarship on civil war has focused on the emergence of rebellions against the state, I argue that such an approach to the Angolan war is inappropriate since both protagonists were founded as anti-colonial movements and both organizations developed characteristics of states to different degrees. Central to each party's narrative was an ideology of the state as a complex of ideas and practices that linked together responsibilities towards the population, prerogatives of violence, and the identity of the nation. People expressed support for either or both movements in terms of common interest and identity,...