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‘Money has more weight than the man’: masculinities in the marriages of Angolan war veterans

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 16:35 authored by John Spall
This article discusses how male Angolan war veterans navigated the sudden shift from the rigours of military discipline to life in a civilian society they no longer recognised, where money had become a dominant social value. Based on a year of participant observation and interviews with war veterans in the city of Huambo, it traces their life histories and their post-war struggles to develop the necessary creativity and initiative to make a profit in a disordered, war-torn economy, where masculine status and authority had come to depend crucially on monetary income. I analyse their reaction to the crumbling of the relative certainties of the patriarchal orders of both pre-war society and military life, and the associated anxieties around living up to a senior masculine archetype of the wise, authoritative provider whilst attempting to ensure that their wives’ behaviour conformed to the family model that accompanies this archetype.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

IDS Bulletin

ISSN

0265-5012

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

Issue

1

Volume

45

Page range

11-19

Department affiliated with

  • Anthropology Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2014-01-08

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