Filhos, enteados e apadrinhados: discursos, políticas e práticas dos serviços de saúde da Diamang, Angola

Abstract

This text intends to unveil the complexity of biomedical care under the Companhia de Diamantes de Angola (Diamang). It aims to question the persuasive fictions produced by the Diamang regarding the equity of health care provided by its own health services (SSD). A more in-depth analysis unveils that, as in other mining companies in Africa, it did not provide equal care. More importantly it reveals the existence of a hierarchy of care amidst its African population. The form of engagement – or lack thereof – with the diamond enterprise molded this pyramid which had workers on top, ensued by its relatives and lastly the general population without ties to the company. These discourses on equality of care had ulterior political goals, both in the colonial and international setting. This study is thus relevant to (re)conceptualize the Third Portuguese Empire as well as to better grasp ongoing (re) construction of African subjectivities.