Signal Cascades in Angola’s Independence Struggle, 1955-1975

Abstract

This article considers one aspect of the international relations of the Angolan independence struggle: the prevalence in archives of records reflecting strong support for one of three rival Angolan national liberation movements (NLMs), the MPLA. Simple explanations, including the post-independence dominance of the MPLA in Angolan politics, offer unsatisfactory explanations for the wide appeal of the movement and its platform to non-Angolan attentive publics. The MPLA successfully courted the international community through principled signalling; carefully selected language calibrated to reflect the discourse of liberation that was prevalent at the time. This messaging was reinforced and recirculated among solidarity movements. This ‘signal cascade’ helped the MPLA gain the moral high ground in a contentious and divisive battle for political control. Investigating the roles of principled signalling as informal internationalism grants important insights into how national liberation movements, as non-state actors, engage with the wider international community to achieve specific political goals.