African Nightclubs of Lisbon and Madrid as Spaces of Cultural Resistance

Abstract

The main objective of this article involves describing how African nightclubs of Lisbon have become spaces for cultural resistance against certain representations of African-ness, taking Madrid as a contrasting case. Since the 1970s, the so-called African nightclubs of Lisbon have constituted spaces for gathering and nurturing a sense of community for immigrants from Portuguese-speaking Africa. Commonly regarded suspiciously by most Portuguese citizens, commodification of the couple dance labelled kizomba during the 1990s helped changed their status. However, most African research participants do not recognise their beloved dance in the commodified version of kizomba . In this context, I analyse the commodification process as a form of symbolic violence that disguises postcolonial structural inequalities and unsolved conflicts through a discourse of neutral “approaching of cultures” on the dance floor. Moreover, from the point of view of a meritocratic symbolism, this discourse portrays the performances displayed at African discos as “basic” and unworthy. After exploring several ways of resistance to commodified kizomba displayed by African discos clientele, I conclude reflecting on the increasing symbolic power of global industries for naming social groups, structuring practices and exercising symbolic violence in late modernity.