The Politics of the Belly
The bottom line of politics in electoral democracies in 21st century capitalism: Whatever patronage politicians dispense, there’s no free lunch.
47 Article(s) by:
Marissa Moorman
Marissa Moorman is on the Editorial Board of Africa is a Country. She is a Professor of African Cultural Studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
The last space of cultural dynamism in Luanda’s baixa is no more
Angolans protest as the state threatens to tear down an historic building.
When Salazar met one of Lumumba’s murderers
António Oliveira Salazar founded Portugal’s New State dictatorship in 1933. Some Portuguese still remember him fondly.
Aimé Césaire on Europe
“At the end of capitalism, which is eager to outlive its day, there is Hitler. At the end of formal humanism and philosophic renunciation, there is Hitler.”
The troubled border of the colonial and postcolonial
Jean-Marie Teno’s film, ‘Une Feuille dans le Vent’ (A Leaf in the Wind), lays bare the affective costs of public silence in Cameroon.
Not Nollywood
An Interview with Nigerian Filmmaker Tunde Kelani.
Black Violin
Kevin Sylvester and Wilner Baptiste are the classically trained violin and viola playing duo that anchor Black Violin.
Smells like Brazil
Angola spends millions of dollars to host the World Championships in roller hockey (yes). Anyone who think it is a waste of money gets beaten up.
The battle over the 27th of May in Angola
Why the ruling MPLA wants to control how we remember the murder of dissidents killed right after independence.
Oil in the Angolan President’s Family
We ought to ask questions about Angola’s Sovereign Wealth Fund. But also about the history of Chevron, Exxon, and Conoco in the country.
In Angola, the generals will be just fine
Beware the bling of banner headlines announcing free speech victories.
The problems with MediaStorm’s filmmaking
MediaStorm went to Angola to make a short film about de-mining. Their techniques gave us pause.
God is a profitable and deadly business in Angola
In post-socialist, growth-oriented Angola, the rich are getting richer and the poor have only their faith.
Jonas Savimbi is a video game star
No surprise that the dead Angolan rebel leader, Jonas Savimbi, is a video game character; in life he was a media mastermind.
The world’s media and Angola’s elections
The oppression/resistance model of politics explains some things, but it does not explain everything, and less and less these days on the continent.
Ghanaian film posters and viewing cultures
The posters are tied to the Ghanaian and Nollywood film industries that emerged in the late 1980s.
Paulo Flores’s Ex-Combatentes
The Angolan singer’s new album deals with war in the widest sense: war with the self, war with family, neighbors, friends.
Goldman Sachs’s Angolan interests
When the Financial Times commits an entire article to topics Angolan, it fills my Google news alert for a week.
Disco Angola (in New York City)
Putting postcolonial Angola and postindustrial New York in visual touch.
Brand Kuduro
How a music genre is selling Angola’s oil boom.