Neocolonialism: the relationship between Portugal and Angola. Theoretical analysis on the post-1975 consequences of the Portuguese colonial domination

Abstract

Portugal dominated the political, economic, socio-cultural, and linguistic realms of Angola for nearly five centuries as its coloniser. After the fall of the Portuguese dictatorship, and a thirteen year-long independence war, Angola reached independence in 1975. This thesis is a theoretical analysis, from a white Portuguese point of view, of the historic and current relationship between Portugal and Angola. The analysis begins with the study of the economic relation of the two states since the beginning of colonial domination to the current days. Next, it moves to an analysis of the socio-cultural domination that the Portuguese occupation undertook. Advancing to the Portuguese point of view on the colonial domination, I study the construction of the myth of the ‘good coloniser’, still present in the Portuguese discourse, which I analyse in the following chapter. Lastly, I study the role of the CPLP (Portuguese abbreviation for the Community of Portuguese Language Countries), particularly its role in maintaining the Portuguese language, a tool of colonial domination. This multidimensional analysis is framed from a ‘development perspective’, particularly to understand how ‘development’ has been used as an overpowering tool in Portuguese discourse. The conclusion of this thesis is that Portugal not only holds a dominant position in its relationship with Angola, but also that, similarly with the colonial period, ‘development’ has been used as a means to obtain economic gain. Topics: Neocolonialism, colonialism, development Content Warning: the thesis will mention and discuss the following topics: racism, colonialism, slavery, suicide, and rape.