Since the end of the Angolan conflict in 2002, the ruling Movemento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA) party has been promoting a 'master narrative' of 'peace and reconstruction', through which the Angolan conflict is re-signified as a merely technical issue, and the question of 'national reconciliation' is limited to the reconstruction of infrastructures. Conv...

The advent of peace in Angola, in 2002, raised hopes that the end of the civil war would entail a gradual opening of political space, and allow for increasing democratic plurality and civil liberties. This article argues that the government of José Eduardo dos Santos is actually reinforcing its control over all aspects of social, economic and political life. Althou...