Jon Schubert - Working the System: A Political Ethnography of the New Angola

My gratitude goes first to my informants, who appear throughout this book, some anonymously and some named. Their willingness to share their stories and daily lives with me made this book possible and shaped my understanding of Angola. Their readiness to find time for me and my questions despite the hectic pace of life in Luanda and their multiple obligations and commitments, as well as their openness and generosity, still overwhelm me. You know who you are, and if the results of this book find their way back to Luanda in one form or another, still only a very small fraction of my debt to you will be repaid.

Anyone who knows Luanda also knows how impossible it is to get anything done without a functioning support network. I truly only got by with a little help from my friends. For their invaluable support during my fieldwork in Luanda, generous hospitality, unfailing help, and precious contacts in the administration; for boleias, broadband access, and little escapes; for lending me household items and novels, and sometimes even a car; for funge and wining and dining; for singing and dancing and inspiring conversations; and most of all, for their wonderful friendship and kindness, many thanks to Pedro Quinanga, Dee, Bea, Doby, Jerry, and Lauretta Geraldo, Hilla and Cavaliere Augusto Poma with Nico and Vittoria, Nuno Beja and family, Andrew Kempson and Kristina Nauer-Statham, Isidora Marcela, Nuno and Delphine Burnier Macedo, Branca Gonalves, Adelina Rosa, Snia Dias Serro, Katiana da Silva, Hendrik Selle, Lioba Gansen, Rita Soares, Vineira Kongo, Bento de Jesus, Isilda Hurst, Pedro Chamangongo, Oliver Dalichau and Alfons llenberg, Helena Marinho, Machteld Catrysse and Job Beeckmans, Cristin Castro, Tnia Manso de Oliveira, Jos Tiago Catito, Helga Borges Silveira, Murielle Mignot, Julia and Allan Cain, Cristiano Makiese, Elad Strohmeyer, Rev. Jos Antnio, Rev. Jernimo Panda, Rev. Alberto Daniel, Rev. Gonalves Augusto Damba, Rev. Pedro Antnio Malungo and Dona Nomia, Amb. Giancarlo Fenini, Dr. Jlio Mendes, Dra. Ginga Neto, Dr. Cornlio Caley, Dra. Alexandra Aparcio, Dr. Francisco Dias Costa, Dra. Irene Neto, Gen. Peregrino Wambu, and Dr. Manzambi Vuvu Fernando.

Several Angolan institutions and associations facilitated the fieldwork that forms the basis of this book, in terms of affiliation, sponsorship of the research visa, access to information, and general support: Ministrio da Cultura, Arquivo Nacional de Angola, Museu de Antropologia, Fundao Agostinho Neto, Fundao 27 de Maio, and Development Workshop Angola.

The other essential precondition for doing research, especially in Luanda, is money. Despite the deteriorating funding climate, I was extremely fortunate to always obtain the next grant before the situation got really desperate. I am thus truly grateful to the following funding bodies which, with their generous and timely support, helped finance my research: the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Edinburgh; Theodor Engelmann-Stiftung, Basel; Janggen-Phn-Stiftung, St. Gallen; Bolsa Rui Tavares, Lisbon; and Het Familie Heringa Vereneging, Utrecht. A postdoctoral fellowship of the German Research Foundations Priority Programme SPP1448 at the University of Leipzig allowed me to make the necessary revisions and finalize the manuscript.

I thank Joost Fontein and Sara Rich Dorman at the Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh, for their concise, frank, open, and insightful feedback and critique, as well as their targeted encouragement. Their input at various stages of my thinking process was very inspiring, and their counsel on academic life was most welcome. Ramon Sarr and Jos-Maria Muoz were the first reviewers of this book and have provided critical fresh input and much-appreciated support ever since.

At Cornell University Press, Jim Lance believed in this book from the beginning and has, with enthusiasm, grace, humor, and very hands-on advice, helped me move this book from the manuscript stage through the review and revision process to its final form. Marissa Moorman and Ricardo Soares de Oliveira were intellectual polestars from my earliest academic engagement with Angola and became fantastic supporters of this book. Their insightful comments helped me refine some of my arguments in the final stage of revisions.