Ambitions of cidade : war-displacement and concepts of the urban among bairro residents in Benguela, Angola
The dissertation explores concepts of upward social mobility, proper personhood and processes of social change as a result of the rural-urban migration provoked by the war in post-colonial Angola between 1975 and 2002. The study focuses on the city of Benguela, which received large numbers of war-displaced people, most of whom settled in bairros, informal settlements surrounding the cidade, the formally structured area of the town. The experience of displacement and establishment in urban areas is not marked only by material struggles and recent experiences of violence, displacement, humanitarian aid and so on, but also by social and historical constructions of rural-urban relationships and of urban space. These frame actors' choices, decisions and actions. I show that 'war-displaced people' are individuals with a history and in history.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations