Jess Auerbach

"The dissertation explores the transnational emergence of an Angolan middle class in the Southern Atlantic. It looks at how short term migration between Angola and Brazil facilitates class mobility, as (largely young) Angolans access education and training not available at home and return with new skills. It considers the effect of these migrations on democratization and peace in Angola, some 15 years after the civil war ended. Based on 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork in both Angola and Brazil, the dissertation develops the idea of ‘wild capitalism’ as a way of approaching everyday life after a transition from socialist to capitalist economic norms, and that practice of ‘trickster economics’ as a strategy of surviving and thriving. It gives attention to scent, and to the use of perfume in Angola and across the Southern Atlantic, arguing that the olfactory plays an important role in helping individuals place one another socioeconomically, and also allows people to access one aspect of aspirational lives.

Drawing on fieldwork undertaken whilst a music teacher in a private primary school, as well as as a university lecturer and member of the Angolan Scouts, the thesis considers how different kinds of social capital are acquired and performed, many of which locate individuals in a sphere that is internationally legible as being that of the ‘global middle class’. Structures of and for intellectual work in the nascent higher education sector, strategies for community improvement and development, and the consolidation of everyday life in peace, are all areas that are ethnographically and theoretically developed. The dissertation also argues for attention to that which is beautiful in countries such as Angola where many outsiders seem to focus so much on suffering and deprivation. Whilst it is important not to overlook the very real challenges that people face, this work argues that everyday happiness is just as valuable a subject of scholarly inquiry."