Fatal architectures and death by design: the infrastructures of state-sponsored climate disasters in Angola and Mozambique

ABSTRACT

This article addresses how African states respond to climate crisis, arguing that, beyond the agency and impact of climate phenomena such as drought and cyclones, they are active participants in the production of climate disasters and emergencies, mostly through infrastructural processes that affect land and resource use, and subsequently livelihoods. To demonstrate this, it uses the cases of the drought in southwestern Angola and cyclones in northern and central Mozambique, where such climate phenomena have exposed ‘fatal architectures’ that have dramatically raised the toll of climate victims and refugees. Both extractivist, agro-industrial and hydroelectric projects, as well as other, more deferred infrastructural designs (roads, communication networks, etc.) have challenged the traditional agency and resilience of local communities. Such new infrastructural projects also illustrate how certain perceived long-term solutions to address the climate crisis with industrial and energy reconversion towards greener energies can still become fatal architectures in the context of climate emergencies.

RÉSUMÉ

Ce texte traite de la manière dont les États africains répondent à la crise climatique, en soutenant que, au-delà de l’impact des phénomènes climatiques tels que la sécheresse et les cyclones, les Etats participent activement à la production de catastrophes et d’urgences climatiques, principalement par le biais de processus infrastructurels qui affectent l’utilisation des terres et des ressources et, par conséquent, les moyens de subsistance. Pour illustrer son propos, l’auteur s’appuie sur les exemples de la sécheresse dans le sud-ouest de l’Angola et des cyclones dans le nord et le centre du Mozambique, où ces phénomènes climatiques ont mis en évidence des « architectures fatales » qui ont considérablement alourdi le bilan des victimes du changement climatique et des réfugiés. C’est le cas des projets extractivistes, agro-industriels et hydroélectriques, ainsi que des projets d’infrastructure plus différés (tels que les routes et les réseaux de communication) qui ont bouleversé le pouvoir d’action et la résilience traditionnels des communautés locales. Lorsqu’il s’agit de faire face à la crise climatique par une reconversion industrielle et énergétique tournée vers des énergies plus vertes, ces exemples de nouveaux projets d’infrastructure illustrent également comment certaines solutions perçues comme étant à long terme peuvent malgré tout devenir des architectures fatales dans des contextes d’urgence climatique.

RESUMO

Este texto aborda a forma como os Estados africanos respondem à crise climática, com o argumento de que, para além da agência e do impacto de fenómenos climáticos tais como as secas e os ciclones, os Estados são participantes ativos na produção de desastres e emergências climáticas, em particular através de processos infraestruturais que afetam o uso da terra e dos recursos e, em última instância, os modos de vida locais. Para ilustrar o argumento, invoco os casos da seca no sudoeste de Angola e dos ciclones no norte e centro de Moçambique, onde estes fenómenos climáticos expuseram “arquiteturas fatais” que aumentaram dramaticamente o número de vítimas e refugiados do clima. É o caso de projetos extrativistas, agroindustriais e hidorelétricos, bem como de outros projetos infra-estruturais mais difusos (estradas, redes de comunicação, etc.), que desafiaram a agência tradicional e a resiliência das comunidades locais. Estes casos de novos projetos infra-estruturais também nos recordam como certas soluções percebidas como sendo de longo prazo no que diz respeito a enfrentar a crise climática através da reconversão industrial e energética para energias mais verdes ainda podem se tornar arquiteturas fatais em contextos de emergência climática.

KEYWORDS:

• Infrastructure
• fatal architecture
• climate disaster
• Angola
• Mozambique

MOTS-CLÉS:

• Infrastructure
• architecture fatale
• catastrophe climatique
• Angola
• Mozambique

PALAVRAS-CHAVE:

• Infraestrutura
• arquitetura fatal
• desastre climático
• Angola
• Moçambique

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Formas and Vetenskapsrådet for funding the research on which this article is based. This research has also benefited from the valuable insights and inputs of Helder Alicerces Bahu and Cláudio Fortuna (Angola), Euclides Gonçalves (Mozambique), Ana Carolina Rodrigues, Carolina Cardoso and Lisa Åkesson (Sweden).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 This article is the outcome of ethnographic field research conducted in southwestern Angola (2020–2022, funded by the Swedish government research council for sustainable development: Formas) to assess the impacts of the extreme drought in the region, and in northern Mozambique (2021–2022, funded by Vetenskapsrådet), that explored the local social and environmental impacts of the LNG industry, and more broadly the current state of extractivism in the country. Both cases involved on-site interviews, focus groups and informal conversations with local actors, as well as collection of multiple types of documentation.

2 This was exposed, for instance, by the investigation into the 2014 Black Friday battle in the Gaza war, in which several Palestinian civilians were killed by Israeli shelling; or the inquiry into the conditions in the Saydnaya prison in Syria. The programme undertook research for Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Doctors without Borders (MSF), the Red Cross (ICRC) and the UN.

3 FRESAN stands for Fortalecimento da Resiliência e da Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional em Angola (Strengthening of Resilience and Food and Nutritional Security in Angola). It is a EU-funded scheme co-managed by UNDP, FAO, Instituto Camões (Portugal) and Vall d’Hebron (Spain), and based on an agreement with the Angolan government.

4 Even among those who benefited from the newly inaugurated system, things did not work so well. In February 2023, part of the canal collapsed, leading to several communities unexpectedly facing the dry season (May–October) without access to water reservoirs (Angonoticias 2023).

Additional information

Funding

Research in Angola was funded by the Formas research agency in Sweden, under the Environmental Disaster and Civic Responses in Angola research project. Research in Mozambique was funded by the Vetenskapsrådet Development Research programme, under the Gas Gospels: Un/Sustainable Development and Environmental Risk in Mozambique research project.

Notes on contributors

Ruy Llera Blanes

Ruy Llera Blanes is an anthropologist associated with the University of Gothenburg’s School of Global Studies and the Centre for Research in Anthropology (CRIA) at ISCTE-IUL, Lisbon. He has conducted long-term research in Angola and more recently in Mozambique, specialising in social movements, environmental issues, heritage and memory, and political struggles.