Regional Negotiations from a Social Constructivist Perspective

The Case of Angola’s Accession to the SADC-Free Trade Area

Resumo

Regional negotiations involve more than material or rational factors, as illustrated by Angola’s delayed accession to the Southern African Development Community Free Trade Area (SADC-FTA) and the willingness of its regional partners to accommodate Angola’s position. Drawing on a social constructivist perspective, this paper treats Angola’s accession as a case study to examine how social interactions and ideational factors play a constitutive role in shaping states’ interests in regional negotiations. Based on documentary sources and nine interviews with members of the Angolan government, senior officials from SADC, and representatives of Angolan industrial associations, the study adopts an analytical and descriptive standpoint. It concludes that Angola’s accession to the SADC-FTA cannot be explained solely by power politics or the rational calculation of economic resources; rather, it is embedded within a social structure that shapes the meaning of power distribution and the dynamics of the negotiation process itself.