Places and Belongings: “Circular” Conjugality Between Angola and Portugal

In the context of contemporary studies of families and transnational lives , we study the emergence of new forms of conjugality among heterosexual couples living apart (one in Portugal, the other in Angola). Considering the importance of gender stratification when the domestic space is transnational rather than shared, we seek to understand how the construction of masculinity is reformulated in the couple when the man migrates to the other country to find work.  The data gathered under my coordination in the ongoing project  Places and belongings: “circular” conjugality between Angola and Portugal (PTDC/AFR/119149/2010)  capture the repercussions of mobility on conjugality as well as the self-perception and representations of those involved of the domestic space – here understood in its physical, affective, and social dimensions . When a conjugal pair separates as a result of the migration of one person, fluid forms of conjugality arise, demanding realignment of gender roles. The “circular” forms of conjugality that are emerging today can also be studied from the point of view of Post-colonialism Theory – seen in the continuities and ruptures in Portugal’s colonial imagination, the gender-role building, and the migrations between the two countries. The paper contains a first lecture and analysis of the data already collected in the before mentioned project.