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Blanes, Ruy Llera (2021). The optimistic utopia: sacrifice and expectations of political transformation in the Angolan Revolutionary Movement. Social Anthropology. 29 (1), 123-140
Export Reference (IEEE) 
R. J. Blanes,  "The optimistic utopia: sacrifice and expectations of political transformation in the Angolan Revolutionary Movement", in Social Anthropology, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 123-140, 2021
Export BibTeX 
@article{blanes2021_1716146269559,
	author = "Blanes, Ruy Llera",
	title = "The optimistic utopia: sacrifice and expectations of political transformation in the Angolan Revolutionary Movement",
	journal = "Social Anthropology",
	year = "2021",
	volume = "29",
	number = "1",
	doi = "10.1111/1469-8676.12977",
	pages = "123-140",
	url = "https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-8676.12977"
}
Export RIS 
TY  - JOUR
TI  - The optimistic utopia: sacrifice and expectations of political transformation in the Angolan Revolutionary Movement
T2  - Social Anthropology
VL  - 29
IS  - 1
AU  - Blanes, Ruy Llera
PY  - 2021
SP  - 123-140
SN  - 0964-0282
DO  - 10.1111/1469-8676.12977
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-8676.12977
AB  - In this paper, I propose an anthropological discussion of the correlation of utopia and optimism, in relation with ideas of personal and collective sacrifice. To do so, I will invoke my ethnographic research on political activism in Angola, particularly the so‐called Revolutionary Movement – a group of young activists challenging Angola’s authoritarian regime. During recent Luanda fieldwork, I observed how most of the ‘Revús’engaged in self‐sacrificial behaviour, exposing themselves to police brutality, imprisonment and social discrimination, in their struggle towards a brighter collective future. This optimistic and somewhat Gandhian stance marks a dramatic departure from the sense of fatalism and ‘culture of fear’ that seems otherwise to prevail in Angola. I will question if and in what terms such stances are ‘utopian’ and configure ‘principles of hope’, as Ernst Bloch would put it. In the process, I will perform a critical interrogation of the correlation of utopia, hope and optimism
ER  -