When speaking about civil society in Angola we usually encounter two perspectives. What stands out from these varying points of view and of others that are similar, is that they use concepts and analyses based on Western structures that exhibit a weak capacity to adapt to or be flexible to African realities. An analysis of democracy, for instance, cannot be limited to its formal or institutional aspects, relative to the parties or the State, as Messiant does, but must be supplemented with the substantive aspect, initiated by citizens’ action, in its relationship to the existent government structures, through what was considered designated by civil society, although this civil society can present several specificities. In the Angolan case, the State, the political parties and civil society organizations (CSOs) constitute the vertexes of the triangle with which one should analyze the processes of democratization, its accomplishments and inadequacies.
DW Angola
Development Workshop Angola