The Moral Economy of Portuguese Postcolonial Return

Abstract

The Moral Economy of Portuguese Postcolonial Return Stephen C. Lubkemann (bio) Stephen C. Lubkemann George Washington University Stephen C. Lubkemann Stephen C. Lubkemann is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at George Washington University and was until recently a postdoctoral Fellow in Anthropological Demography at Brown University's Thomas J. Watson Institute. He is the author of several articles, including "The Transformation of Transnationality among Mozambican Migrants in South Africa," Canadian Journal of African Studies (2000); and "Where to Be an Ancestor? Reconstituting Socio-Spiritual Worlds and Post-Conflict Settlement Decision-Making among displaced Mozambicans" Journal of Refugee Studies (2002). Notes 1. This paper draws on two primary fieldwork sessions—a year I spent as a Fulbright Fellow in 1990-1991 and four more months in 1993. I formally and informally interviewed over forty retornados in two areas—residents of the greater Lisbon area and those living in a small town south of the city of Aveiro, which I have given the pseudonym of "Olival." I was also able to interview many extended-family members, neighbors, and other residents of the communities that witnessed their arrival. All individual names given are pseudonyms. This work also draws on a review of several-hundred press articles on the retornados—a comprehensive archive, generously made available to me by the Instituto 25 de Abril at the University of Coimbra. However, this analysis owes as much or more to critical reflection on seventeen years of my early life that were spent living in post-revolutionary Portugal (1972-1986; 1991-1992), within sight of the infamous retornado camp in Jamor, and interacting with many friends and acquaintances who had arrived from Mozambique and Angola in 1975-1976. This analysis is thus deeply influenced by a lifetime of being part of, and formed by, the field itself. 2. It has been estimated that only 20 per cent of the pieds-noirs who emigrated to France had originally been born in France (Baillet 64), and, according to Kraak, only 30 to 40 per cent of those who arrived in the Netherlands in the wake of Indonesian decolonization were believed to have been born in Europe (qtd. in Pires et al. 30). 3. This number reflects an even stronger level of original connection to Portugal among the retornado population when broken down by age, since 85 per cent of those actually born in the colonies themselves were minors in the under-15 age group and therefore dependents. Among older age groups, the proportion of the Portuguese-born was considerably higher (15-39 age group—60 per cent born in Portugal; 40+ age group—85 per cent born in Portugal [Pires et al. 38-9]). 4. A larger percentage of retornados is likely to have had kinship ties than is reflected in the percentage returning to districts of origin, once we consider two additional demographic characteristics of the retornado population: (1) younger retornados born abroad who were accompanying dependents of parents returning to districts of origin were counted as new immigrants to these districts (yet obviously had kinship ties through their parents); and (2) retornados were much more likely to have emigrated to Africa before marriage and then married in Africa (Bender). Consequently, married retornados who immigrated to their spouse's district of origin would also be counted as new immigrants to these districts. In both of these cases, however, family ties through a parent or spouse who was returning to an area of origin existed, even if only one of the two spouses was technically returning to his (or her) district of origin. It is, therefore, highly likely that the majority of retornados settled in areas where they had some form of family ties. More demographic analysis and region-specific study is needed to decide this issue. 5. Portuguese emigration to North America has historically been dominated by Azoreans rather than continental Portuguese (Baganha; Moniz). 6. Portuguese rental laws at the time made it extremely difficult for a tenant to expel a renter. 7. The secondary sector refers to employment in manufacturing (19 per cent); gas, water, and electricity (0.7 per cent); and extractive industry—i.e., mining (0.3 per cent). The tertiary sector refers to employment in...

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