Geo-Histories of Infrastructure and Agrarian Configuration in Malanje, Angola By Aaron Laurence

461 Pages·2015·19.37 MB·English

Provisional Reconstructions:
Geo-Histories of Infrastructure and Agrarian Configuration in Malanje, Angola

By
Aaron Laurence deGrassi

A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in
Geography
in the
Graduate Division
of the
University of California, Berkeley

Committee in charge:

Professor Michael J. Watts, Chair
Professor Gillian P. Hart
Professor Peter B. Evans
Abstract
Provisional Reconstructions: Geo-Histories of Infrastructure and Agrarian Configuration in
Malanje, Angola
by
Aaron Laurence deGrassi
Doctor of Philosophy in Geography
University of California, Berkeley
Professor Michael J. Watts, Chair

Fueled by a massive offshore deep-water oil boom, Angola has since the end of war in 2002
undertaken a huge, complex, and contradictory national reconstruction program whose character
and dynamics have yet to be carefully studied and analyzed. What explains the patterns of such
projects, who is benefitting from them, and how? The dissertation is grounded in the specific
dynamics of cassava production, processing and marketing in two villages in Western Malanje
Province in north central Angola. The ways in which Western Malanje’s cassava farmers’
livelihoods are shaped by transport, marketing, and an overall agrarian configuration illustrate
how contemporary reconstruction – in the context of an offshore oil boom – has occurred
through the specific conjunctures of multiple geo-historical processes associated with settler
colonialism, protracted war, and leveraged liberalization. Such an explanation contrasts with
previous more narrow emphases on elite enrichment and domination through control of external
trade. Infrastructure projects are occurring as part of an agrarian configuration in which patterns
of land, roads, and markets have emerged through recursive relations, and which is characterized
by concentration, hierarchy and fragmentation.
1
Table of Contents

Chapter 1 : Introduction: Agrarian Reconstruction in Post-War Oil-Boom Angola ...................... 2 
Chapter 2 : A Critical Spatial Chronology: Beyond Creole Elite, Neo-Patrimonialism, and Dutch
Disease in Angola ......................................................................................................................... 53 
Chapter 3 : Rethinking the 1961 Baixa de Kassanje Revolt: Towards a Relational Geo-History of
Angola ......................................................................................................................................... 145 
Chapter 4 : Security and Subversion in the Logistical Reconstructions of Angola’s Transport
Infrastructure ............................................................................................................................... 183 
Chapter 5 : Interlude – The Kapanda Agro-Industrial Growth Pole as a Microcosm of National
Reconstruction Approaches ........................................................................................................ 227 
Chapter 6 : Real Cassava Markets from War Dissolution to the PRESILD Markets ................. 243 
Chapter 7 : More than Trade and Grabbing: Agrarian Concentration, Fragmentation, and
Hierarchy ..................................................................................................................................... 289 
Chapter 8 : Conclusion: Beyond Contradictions ........................................................................ 357 
References ................................................................................................................................... 362 
Appendices .................................................................................................................................. 402 

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Detailed Table of Contents

Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... i 
Illustrations ................................................................................................................................ vii 
Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................ xii 
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. xvi 
Technical Notes ...................................................................................................................... xviii 

Chapter 1 : Introduction: Agrarian Reconstruction in Post-War Oil-Boom Angola ...................... 2 
1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 3 
1.1.1 Context ........................................................................................................................... 6 
1.1.2 Conventional Interpretations ........................................................................................ 11 
1.1.3 War: The $200 Billion ‘Elephant in the Room’ ........................................................... 12 
1.1.4 Key Themes in a Critical Relational Geography of Agriculture, Resources and
Infrastructure in Africa .......................................................................................................... 19 
1.1.5 Summary of Contributions, Sources and Methods ....................................................... 23 
1.2 Argument and Chapter Structure ......................................................................................... 25 
1.2.1 Issues and Sequence ..................................................................................................... 25 
1.2.2 Chapter 2: A Critical Spatial Chronology .................................................................... 26 
1.2.3 Chapter 3: Rethinking Kassanje ................................................................................... 27 
1.2.4 Chapter 4: Reconstruction and Use of Roads ............................................................... 28 
1.2.5 Chapter 5: Interlude – The Kapanda Agro-Industrial Pole ........................................... 30 
1.2.6 Chapter 6: Agro-Food Provisioning and Marketing ..................................................... 31 
1.2.7 Chapter 7: Agrarian Configuration ............................................................................... 32 
1.3 Study Area and Methodology: Inconstant Geographies of Western Malanje ..................... 33 
1.3.1 Kota and Around .......................................................................................................... 39 
1.3.2 Amaral .......................................................................................................................... 41 
1.3.3 Kuzuka .......................................................................................................................... 47 
1.3.4 Mwanya ........................................................................................................................ 47 
1.3.5 Details on Methodology ............................................................................................... 48 

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Chapter 2 : A Critical Spatial Chronology: Beyond ‘Creole Elite,’ Neo-Patrimonialism, and
Dutch Disease in Angola .............................................................................................................. 53 
2.1  Angola 1500-2014: A Brief Spatial Chronology ........................................................... 53 
2.2  The Weight of History and the Neo-Patrimonial Creole Rentier-Gatekeeper State ...... 64 
2.2.1 Spatiality in Conventional Models of Angola’s Political Economy ............................. 68 
2.3  Key Limitations of Conventional Models ...................................................................... 75 
2.4  Conjunctures as an Alternative Explanation: Settler Colonialism, Protracted War, and
Leveraged Liberalization ........................................................................................................... 80 
2.3.1 Settler Colonialism ....................................................................................................... 80 
2.3.2 Protracted War .............................................................................................................. 81 
2.3.3 Leveraged Liberalization .............................................................................................. 83 
2.5  The ‘(Mbundu) Creole Elite’ of Angola: Geo-History and Identity .............................. 87 
2.5.1 Distribution of White and Mestiço Population ............................................................. 90 
2.5.2 ‘Creole’ vs Multiple Identities ...................................................................................... 96 
2.5.3 Ethnographic Cadasters, Colonial Historiographies, and Geographic Erasures ........ 101 
2.5.4 ‘Creole Elite’ as Reified by Cold Warriors and Savimbi ........................................... 121 
2.5.5 The Mythical Metonym of ‘The Dozen Great Families’ ............................................ 124 
2.6  Neo-Patrimonialism: Extractive Institutions, the Resource Curse, and Spatiality ....... 127 
2.6.1 Weber and Space I: Industrial vs/and Commercial Capitalism .................................. 129 
2.6.2 Weber and Space II: Industrial Capitalism and Racial Colonialism .......................... 131 
2.6.3 Weber and Space III: Gender, Arbitrariness and Discretion ...................................... 133 
2.7  The So-Called ‘Dutch Disease’: Oil and Neo-Liberal Projects ................................... 135 
2.7.1 Political Economic Origins of the Dutch Disease Term and Model .......................... 137 
2.7.2 How has the Dutch Disease Model been Invoked for Angola? .................................. 141 
2.8  Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 143 

Chapter 3 : Rethinking the 1961 Baixa de Kassanje Revolt: Towards a Relational Geo-History of
Angola ......................................................................................................................................... 145 
3.1 Kassanje in Debates and Problems in Angola ................................................................... 150 
3.1.1 Academic and Policy Interpretations of Political Economy in Angola and Africa .... 152 
3.2 Reconsidering Angola’s Baixa de Kassanje and 1961 Revolt: A Crossroads in
Transformation ........................................................................................................................ 154 
3.3 Malanje-Congo Relations .................................................................................................. 155 
3.4 Malanje-Luanda Connections ........................................................................................... 161 
3.4.1 Contracted Labor ........................................................................................................ 161 
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3.4.2 Transport: Road and Rail Construction and Use ........................................................ 163 
3.4.3 Rural and Urban Land and the Settler Economy ........................................................ 166 
3.4.5 Church Networks ........................................................................................................ 171 
3.5 Transformations in Malanje and Kassanje ........................................................................ 172 
3.6 The Roots of Contemporary Reconstruction in Late-Colonial Regional Development as
Counter-Insurgency ................................................................................................................. 175 
3.7 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 181 

Chapter 4 : Security and Subversion in the Logistical Reconstructions of Angola’s Transport
Infrastructure ............................................................................................................................... 183 
4.1 Beyond ‘Investing in Investing’: Resources, Infrastructure, and Spatiality ..................... 184 
4.1.1 The Bridge on the River Lombe: Roadblocks, Logistical Construction and Corruption
............................................................................................................................................. 187 
4.2 Geo-Histories of Colonial Road Construction and Counter-Insurgency .......................... 194 
4.3.1 Transport in Late-Colonial Counter-Insurgency ........................................................ 197 
4.3.2 Late-Colonial Road Construction ............................................................................... 198 
4.3.3 Late-Colonial Road Construction in Western Malanje .............................................. 202 
4.3.4 Late-Colonial Counter-Insurgency in Western Malanje ............................................ 204 
4.4 Transport, Logistics and War in Independent Angola ...................................................... 206 
4.4.1 Institutional Continuity and the National Highway Network ..................................... 210 
4.5 Contemporary Road Reconstruction: The Logistics of Rebuilding the Luanda-Malanje
Highway .................................................................................................................................. 211 
4.5.1 Leaving Luanda: The Chinese, the Roads Institute, and ‘The Bulldozer’ ................. 216 
4.5.2 Climbing to Ambaca: the Reconstruction Office and Military Logistics ................... 217 
4.5.3 Angolan Contractors from Amabaca to Malanje: Brafrikon and Metroeuropa .......... 221 
4.5.4 Motorcycle Proliferation ............................................................................................. 223 
4.6 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 226 

Chapter 5 : Interlude – The Kapanda Agro-Industrial Growth Pole as a Microcosm of National
Reconstruction Approaches ........................................................................................................ 227 
5.1 The Kapanda Agro-Industrial Pole Today ........................................................................ 231 
5.2 Elaboration of the Kapanda Growth Pole in the Socialist Period ..................................... 236 
5.3 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 240 

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Chapter 6 : Real Cassava Markets from War Dissolution to the PRESILD Markets ................. 243 
6.1 Real Cassava Markets, Regulation and Evasion ............................................................... 246 
6.1.1 Colonial Roots of Agro-Industrial Markets and Trade Regulations ........................... 251 
6.2 War and the Defeat of Socialist Restructuring of Colonial Agro-Industry ....................... 256 
Period 1 - 1974-7: Independence Turmoil, Assessment, and Initial Plans .......................... 260 
Period 2 - 1977-80: Reported Coup and the Turn to Active State Efforts .......................... 260 
Period 3 - 1980-1983: Reform and Progress amidst Deteriorating Conditions ................... 264 
Period 4 - 1983-86: Disruption by War ............................................................................... 267 
Period 5 - After 1986: Plans Abandoned, and a Shift to Survival ....................................... 272 
6.3 War, Leveraged Liberalization, and the Privatization of Food Marketing ....................... 273 
6.4 Post-War Nationalist PRESILD Supermarkets Revive Logistics but Backfire ................ 278 
6.4.1 PRESILD in Malanje .................................................................................................. 280 
6.4.2 PRESILD as a Response to Effects of 1990s Conflict and Liberalization ................. 282 
6.5 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 287 

Chapter 7 : More than Trade and Land Grabbing: Agrarian Concentration, Fragmentation, and
Hierarchy ..................................................................................................................................... 289 
7.1 Agrarian Configuration and Cassava Production, Processing and Marketing .................. 290 
7.2 Land Inequality in Post-Independence Angola: Conventional Perspectives and an
Alternative ............................................................................................................................... 294 
7.2.1 Land, Law and Power 1992-2004 ............................................................................... 297 
7.2.2 Post-2004 Land Law Ambiguity as Instrument of Power? ........................................ 304 
7.2.3 Land, Traditional Authorities, and Patronage Networks ............................................ 305 
7.2.4 Conceptualizing Agrarian Configurations: Concentration, Hierarchy and
Fragmentation ...................................................................................................................... 308 
7.3 Land in Colonial Angola and the Agrarian Configuration of Western Malanje ............... 310 
7.3.1 Colonial Plantations in Malanje and Angola .............................................................. 311 
7.3.2 Increased Commercial Settler Land Claims for Mechanized Cultivation of Cotton and
Other Crops.......................................................................................................................... 317 
7.3.3 Cotton beyond Trade and Enclaves: Agro-Industrialization in Malanje .................... 319 
7.3.4 Notable Examples of Agrarian and Inter-sectoral Investment in Malanje ................. 321 
7.3.5 Paternal Colonial Protection against Land Exploitation............................................. 326 
7.3.6 Colonial Settlement Schemes ..................................................................................... 328 
7.3.7 From Rivers to Roads: The Concentration and Relocation of Villages in Rural
Reordering ........................................................................................................................... 330 
7.3.8 Colonial Processes and Agrarian Configuration ........................................................ 341 
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7.4 From Land Grabbing to Agrarian Configuration .............................................................. 343 
7.4.1 Ambiguity: Procrescer ................................................................................................ 347 
7.4.2 Inter-sectoral I: Cahombo/Agritrade/Terras de Kolo ................................................. 348 
7.4.3 Inter-sectoral II: The (Auto) Union Plantation ........................................................... 352 
7.4.4 Imperfect continuity in global context: The Luiz / Fonseca claim ............................. 354 
7.4  Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 356 

Chapter 8 : Conclusion: Beyond Contradictions ........................................................................ 357 
8.1 Questions for Further Research ......................................................................................... 359 
8.2 Angola Beyond Contradictions ......................................................................................... 360 

References ................................................................................................................................... 362 
Appendices .................................................................................................................................. 402 

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Illustrations
Figures
Figure 1.1: Basic Analytic Framework & Chapters ........................................................................ 4 
Figure 1.2: Timeline........................................................................................................................ 4 
Figure 1.3: ‘The Ruse of Brutality,’ Kota ....................................................................................... 8 
Figure 1.4: Road through Kota ..................................................................................................... 39 
Figure 1.5: Schematic of Changes in Road and Train Links around Study Area, 1904-2013 ...... 42 
Figure 1.6: Amaral, 2012 .............................................................................................................. 46 
Figure 2.1: Some Origins of Nationalist Organizations and Movements, 1948-1965.................. 60 
Figure 2.2: The Neopatrimonial-Rentier-Gatekeeper State .......................................................... 70 
Figure 2.3: Colonial Geo-Historiography and a Critical Genealogy of the Notion ‘Creole Elite’
..................................................................................................................................................... 120 
Figure 2.4: Cartoon from Conservatives’ Open Letter, 1984 ..................................................... 122 
Figure 2.5: Weber’s Continuum of Personal Discretion in Patrimonial Rule ............................ 134 
Figure 3.1: Transnational news in Kimbundu in La Nation Angolaise ...................................... 157 
Figure 4.1: Market Share of Global Construction Industry ........................................................ 186 
Figure 4.2: Lombe Road and Rail Bridges and Infrastructure, 1907, 2008, and 2013 ............... 188 
Figure 4.3: Models of Development Poles and Logistics Networks in Angola and Region ...... 189 
Figure 4.4: Malanje Military Artillery for Kassanje, 1911; de Matos’ 1912 Car Trip to Malanje
..................................................................................................................................................... 195 
Figure 4.5: Bulldozers Used to Build Military Road in Eastern Angola .................................... 200 
Figure 4.6: Colonial Manual Labor Road Gravel Pit at Kota ..................................................... 203 
Figure 4.7: Lombe-Kalandula Road c. 1970 ............................................................................... 204 
Figure 4.8: Army Food Warehouse and Mobile Trucks, mid-1980s .......................................... 207 
Figure 4.9: Management of Road Reconstruction Segments ...................................................... 215 
Figure 4.10: Impounded Motorcycles at Malanje Police Lot ..................................................... 226 
Figure 5.1: Hydroelectric Dam, Government Billboard, Central Garden Square, Malanje ..... 230 
Figure 5.2: Presidential Plaque Commemorating First Harvest at Pungo Andongo, May 2007
..................................................................................................................................................... 234 
Figure 5.3: MPLA Images, Videos and Text Emphasizing ‘Sure Route’ (O Caminho Seguro)
..................................................................................................................................................... 242 
Figure 6.1: Luanda-Malanje Railroad Comic ............................................................................. 247 
Figure 6.2: PAPAGRO Headline: ‘Thousands of Stores in the Rural World’ ........................... 256 
Figure 6.3: Abstract Models and Historical Sequences of Oil, War, and Food Imports ............ 259 
Figure 6.4: June 1977: ETP Volvo Trucks Unloading in Malanje 200 Tons of Food from Luanda;
Malanje Sobas Meeting in Luanda ............................................................................................. 262 
Figure 6.5: President dos Santos Inaugurates Commerce Program & Tours Farms, Malanje, 1982
..................................................................................................................................................... 266 
Figure 6.6: The Nosso Super Market in Malanje ........................................................................ 279 
Figure 6.7: The Old Municipal Market in Malanje, and the Cleared Lot ................................... 281 
Figure 6.8: Relocated Xawande Market and Trader Arriving via the Dirt/Mud Entrance Road 281 
Figure 6.9: Inflation and Dollarization ....................................................................................... 283 
Figure 7.1: Dry Menya Creek and Dry Pools, July 2013............................................................ 292 
Figure 7.2: Cotonang’s Tractor Park, c. 1962 ............................................................................. 318 
Figure 7.3: Katepa Agro-Industry, Malanje City ........................................................................ 320 
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Figure 7.4: East of Malanje City, Kissol Sugar Alcohol Distillery Works, c. 1905 ................... 323 
Figure 7.5: Sketch of Fazenda Inveja (‘Jealousy Plantation’), c. 1888 ...................................... 324 
Figure 7.6: Area of Former Inveja Plantation: Casa Gaiato Orphanage, Church and Farm, c. 2014
..................................................................................................................................................... 324 
Figure 7.7: Rhizomatic Senu (Imperata cylindrica) on the Roadside near Kota ........................ 326 
Figure 7.8: JPP Facilities being inaugurated near Kota, mid 1960s ........................................... 328 
Figure 7.9: The São João Village Plan at Cole Settlement Scheme, Malanje ............................ 329 
Figure 7.10: Pine Kiln / Fornos do Pinhal .................................................................................. 338 
Figure 7.11: Dormant Korean-Built Chicken Project near Kota ................................................ 339 
Figure 7.12: Village-level Fragmentation: Aerial Photograph of Mechanized Plantation, c. 1960
..................................................................................................................................................... 342 
Figure 7.13 Sisal Harvest and Drying at Cahombo Plantation, late 1950s ................................. 349 
Figure 7.14: General Gato signs Document of Cuban Troop Withdrawal Jan 10, 1989 ............ 354 

Maps
Map 1.1: Provinces of Angola ...................................................................................................... 15 
Map 1.2: The 2012 Parliamentary/Presidential Elections (Percent of Vote to MPLA) ................ 17 
Map 1.3: Municipalities in Malanje Province............................................................................... 35 
Map 1.4: Study Area Roads and Administrative Divisions (Municipal and Comuna) ................ 38 
Study Area Below: Map 1.5 & Map 1.6 (IGCA) .......................................................................... 42 
Map 2.1: Some Major Pre-Colonial Political Entities and Trade Routes ..................................... 55 
Map 2.2: Main Sources and Destinations of the Atlantic Slave Trade ......................................... 56 
Map 2.3: The Slaving Frontier: Approximate Dates and Locations” ........................................... 57 
Map 2.4: ‘Locations of Principal Military Actions, 1888-1926’ .................................................. 58 
Map 2.5: Select Reported Deadly Conflict Events, 1961-2002 .................................................... 63 
Map 2.6: ‘The Geography of Useful Africa’ ................................................................................ 72 
Map 2.7: Rail vs Road Networks in Africa................................................................................... 78 
Map 2.8: Reification of Ten “Tribes” of Angola .......................................................................... 88 
Map 2.9: Alternate Colonial Representation of Ethnic Groups .................................................... 90 
Map 2.10: Distribution of White Population in Angola, 1950 ..................................................... 92 
Map 2.11: Relative Distribution of White Population in Angola, 1970 ....................................... 93 
Map 2.12: Relative Distribution of Mestiço Population in Angola, 1970 .................................... 94 
Map 2.13: Population Distribution, 1950 ..................................................................................... 95 
Map 2.14: ‘Ethnographic Map of Angola,’ 1916, by the Secretary of Indigenes Affairs .......... 104 
Map 2.15: ‘Distribution of Spoken Languages,’ 1916 ............................................................... 105 
Map 2.16: Colonial Ministry’s 1946 ‘Ethnographic Sketch of Angola: Linguistic Differentiation’
..................................................................................................................................................... 108 
Map 2.17: ‘Sketch of Ethno-Linguistic Distribution,’ ................................................................ 109 
Map 2.18: Initial IICA Map of Approximate Ethnic Groups without Boundaries ..................... 113 
Map 2.19: Conventional Map of Ethnic Boundaries on Empty Space ....................................... 117 
Map 3.1: The Baixa de Kassanje in North-Central Angola ........................................................ 146 
Map 3.2: Main Towns and Roads of the Baixa de Kassanje ...................................................... 148 
Map 3.3: Distribution of Registered Trading Stores in Malanje in 1958 ................................... 170 
Map 3.4: Colonial Regional and Development Pole Plans in Angola ................................... 176 
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