FROM CULTURAL LIBERATION TO CREATIVE AND CULTURAL INDUSTRIES: CABRAL’S LEGACY AND ECONOMIC AUTONOMY IN LUSOPHONE AFRICA

Abstract

This research reconceptualizes Amílcar Cabral’s theory of “cultural liberation” by situating it within the contemporary emergence of Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI) in Lusophone Africa. Cabral argued that culture constitutes not only the foundation of collective identity but also a driving force for political liberation. This proposition provides a critical theoretical starting point for understanding how culture can be transformed from a resource of resistance into a strategic pillar of post-colonial state building. Drawing on Frantz Fanon’s decolonial theory, George Yúdice’s framework of the instrumentalization of culture, and Carlos Lopes’ discussions on Africa’s creative economy, this article conceptualizes culture as a field where legitimacy, autonomy, and development intersect. Building on this perspective, the article proposes an analytical framework that connects cultural identity, CCI, and economic autonomy, extending Cabral’s concept of cultural liberation into contemporary post-colonial development practices. Drawing on UNESCO, UNCTAD, ILO, Brookings, and country-level evidence, the study examines Guinea-Bissau，Cabo Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe，Mozambique and Angola to analyse how CCI function simultaneously as instruments of economic diversification, platforms of identity consolidation, and arenas of geopolitical positioning through language, media, music, and digital creativity. The paper argues that CCI hold potential to contribute to economic autonomy by generating employment, strengthening domestic value chains, expanding exportable symbolic capital, and reducing structural aid dependency. However, adopting Cabral’s critical lens, the paper also interrogates whether CCI genuinely advance decolonial transformation or risk integrating African cultural production into new hierarchies of global cultural capitalism. Issues of commodification, dependency on external markets, cultural homogenization, and unequal power dynamics are critically assessed. The study concludes that the legacy of Cabral remains profoundly relevant: cultural sovereignty is inseparable from economic sovereignty. When framed as part of an unfinished liberation project rather than merely an industrial sector, CCI can support long-term autonomy and nation-building in Lusophone Africa. Yet their emancipatory capacity depends on governance choices, equitable infrastructure, and policy frameworks grounded in cultural rights, social justice, and developmental sovereignty.