The Institutionalisation of Informal Politics Beyond the State: The Case of UNITA-MPLA Conflict in Angola

ABSTRACT

Using the sociological approach to international relations, this article considers the institutionalisation of informal politics beyond the state in Angola's postcolonial history. It is argued that war can become an alternative form of societal order to the extent that actors lose interest in bringing the conflict to an end through peaceful means. The article illustrates how promoting political disorder has become politically convenient for involved political elites, whether in government or in opposition, given that the continuous state of emergency dominates the debate on the legitimacy of their cause. Under such conditions, informal political regulation, considered as a pattern of behaviour not being officially recognised or controlled, might become particularly salient. Following the weakening of formal state structures, the MPLA and UNITA have accommodated violence and disorder through informal political strategies, aimed at the private extraction of Angola's natural resources and the coordination of informal and transnational international relations. Ultimately, informal political regulations have been more convenient for both movements in war, and today continue to be so in peacetime for the MPLA.