Elisa Lopes da Silva‘s first book, on the state, science and techniques of internal colonisation during the Estado Novo, will be launched at the Lisbon Book Fair, with a presentation by Fernando Rosas and Cláudia Castelo.

Colonizar a Metrópole.

Estado, Ciência e Técnicas de Colonização Interna Durante o Estado Novo

A colonização interna foi uma imaginação recorrente no Portugal moderno. Colonizar os baldios de Trás-os-Montes ou os «incultos» dos latifúndios alentejanos foi uma preocupação de diversos intelectuais, políticos e engenheiros desde Oliveira Martins até aos anos 1960. Durante o Estado Novo, a expropriação dos latifúndios do Sul esteve no centro de intensos debates políticos, que equacionavam as vantagens de dividir por pequenos proprietários um Alentejo regado por novas barragens. Entretanto, a Junta de Colonização Interna (1936-1975) foi promovendo uma ordem rural através da multiplicação de explorações agrícolas familiares. Um dos resultados maiores destas iniciativas de ocupação agrícola do solo e povoamento rural foi a construção de sete colónias agrícolas, utopias rurais criadas através de saberes e técnicas científicas.

Este livro observa de forma caleidoscópica o fenómeno colonizador, nas suas articulações entre o reformismo agrário, o nacionalismo económico, a política hidráulica, o desemprego rural e o desenvolvimentismo do pós-Segunda Guerra Mundial. A partir de um conjunto alargado de fontes legislativas, administrativas, científicas e historiográficas, analisadas através de uma abordagem foucaultiana das relações de poder, a autora problematiza de que forma a colonização interna foi uma tecnologia de governo da população e de fabricação do território produtivo.

Mais informações sobre o livro

The book on women’s struggle against fascism and colonialism, edited by Regina Marques, Inocência Mata, Leonor Teixeira, Joana Dias Pereira and Raquel Ribeiro, will be launched at the Lisbon Book Fair, with a presentation by Isabel Branco.

Mulheres na Luta contra o Fascismo e o Colonialismo

Pela primeira vez em Portugal, o Congresso Mulheres na Luta contra o Fascismo e o Colonialismo juntou, em 2024, vozes fundamentais da memória histórica das mulheres que lutaram contra o fascismo em Portugal e contra o colonialismo nos países africanos de língua portugueses – académicas, militantes e activistas, testemunhas vivas da memória da luta das mulheres e das suas organizações que estiveram, e continuam a estar, na vanguarda do desenvolvimento, do pensar e transformar da(s) sua(s) sociedade(s).

Nos 50 anos do 25 de Abril e das independências das colónias portuguesas em África, as discussões agora publicadas neste livro demonstram a convergência entre a resistência anti-fascista em Portugal e os movimentos anti-coloniais e pela independência em África. A literatura, as cartas clandestinas, a organização comunitária e militante, mas também dados concretos sobre a realidade da vida e do quotidiano das mulheres, emergem como ferramentas da sua resistência, revelando como as mulheres não só combateram a violência da colonização e do fascismo, mas estão também a construir novas identidades políticas e culturais. Um projecto promissor de articulações na senda de Abril.

Mais informações sobre o livro

First public discussion session of the doctoral theses of the second-year students on the doctoral programme in History at the University of Évora.

Sessão de discussão pública das Teses de Doutoramento em História

Sessões de discussão pública das Teses de Doutoramento em História dos alunos/as de 2º ano do programa doutoral da Universidade de Évora.

🔗 Link de acesso à sessão online

Programa:

23 de Junho 2025

15h00
Ricardo Emanuel Mamede Cardoso – “Omne regnum divisum contra se desolatur”: as controvérsias no clero moçárabe dos séculos VIII-IX e as suas implicações na sobrevivência ou decadência das comunidades cristãs no al-Andalus
Arguente: Juan Pedro Monferrer Sala (Universidad de Córdoba)

27 de Junho 2025

9h00
José Pedro Maia dos Reis – Uma história civil e militar da Guarda Nacional Republicana (1911-1926)
Arguente: Adolfo Cueto (Universidade Católica de Angola)

10h00
Gerardo Vidal – A mineração multimetálica em Sabrosa (1850 e 1950): aspectos económicos, sociais e culturais
Arguente: José Manuel Brandão (Pólo do CEF na NOVA FCSH)

11h00
Manuel Carapito da Conceição – As elites políticas da Covilhã (1910-1974): uma análise social
Arguente: Joana Dias Pereira (IHC — NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST)

12h00
Alexandra de Jesus Guedes – The influence of biblical models on medieval women
Arguente: Maria João Branco (IEM — NOVA FCSH)

Almoço

14h20
Susana Henriques – Viver e Morrer no Hospital Militar do Castelo de São Jorge (Séc. XVI ao XVIII): da estrutura hospitalar à construção do campo santo
Arguente: Ricardo Costeira da Silva (Universidade de Coimbra)

15h20
Erik Bran Marino – Migration Discourse and Conspiracy Theories in Portugal and Spain (1990-2025)
Arguente: Luca Manucci (ICS – Universidade de Lisboa)

>> Descarregar o programa (PDF) <<

Open conversation about imaginaries, part of the Joint International Workshop “Hopes and Fears. Anti-colonial and Postcolonial Imaginaries in the Lusotopy and Beyond”.

Sobre Imaginários

No âmbito desta segunda conversa aberta organizada pelo Joint International Workshop “Hopes and Fears. Anti-colonial and Postcolonial Imaginaries in the Lusotopy and Beyond”, temos o prazer de receber Manuela Ribeiro Sanches (IHC) e Marçal de Menezes Paredes (PUCRS) para conversar em torno de um tema fundamental de nossas reflexões: os Imaginários.
A conversa será inicialmente animada por Manuela, especialista em estudos culturais pós-coloniais, que trará ao debate algumas reflexões e ideias sobre o tema. Contaremos também com a presença de Marçal, coordenador do workshop na Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, que apresentará o seu próprio trabalho e as suas ligações com as questões de investigação levantadas pelo seminário.

ENTRADA LIVRE

Second public discussion session of the doctoral theses of the second-year students on the doctoral programme in History at the University of Évora.

Sessão de discussão pública das Teses de Doutoramento em História

Sessões de discussão pública das Teses de Doutoramento em História dos alunos/as de 2º ano do programa doutoral da Universidade de Évora.

🔗 Link de acesso à sessão online

Programa:

23 de Junho 2025

15h00
Ricardo Emanuel Mamede Cardoso – “Omne regnum divisum contra se desolatur”: as controvérsias no clero moçárabe dos séculos VIII-IX e as suas implicações na sobrevivência ou decadência das comunidades cristãs no al-Andalus
Arguente: Juan Pedro Monferrer Sala (Universidad de Córdoba)

27 de Junho 2025

9h00
José Pedro Maia dos Reis – Uma história civil e militar da Guarda Nacional Republicana (1911-1926)
Arguente: Adolfo Cueto (Universidade Católica de Angola)

10h00
Gerardo Vidal – A mineração multimetálica em Sabrosa (1850 e 1950): aspectos económicos, sociais e culturais
Arguente: José Manuel Brandão (Pólo do CEF na NOVA FCSH)

11h00
Manuel Carapito da Conceição – As elites políticas da Covilhã (1910-1974): uma análise social
Arguente: Joana Dias Pereira (IHC — NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST)

12h00
Alexandra de Jesus Guedes – The influence of biblical models on medieval women
Arguente: Maria João Branco (IEM — NOVA FCSH)

Almoço

14h20
Susana Henriques – Viver e Morrer no Hospital Militar do Castelo de São Jorge (Séc. XVI ao XVIII): da estrutura hospitalar à construção do campo santo
Arguente: Ricardo Costeira da Silva (Universidade de Coimbra)

15h20
Erik Bran Marino – Migration Discourse and Conspiracy Theories in Portugal and Spain (1990-2025)
Arguente: Luca Manucci (ICS – Universidade de Lisboa)

>> Descarregar o programa (PDF) <<

Online course of the NOVA FCSH Summer School that combines scientific content with the cultural and symbolic history of plants.

Botânica e Arte

Docente: Luís Mendonça de Carvalho

Datas e Horários: 10 a 25 de Julho  |  Dias 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23 e 24 de Julho, das 18h00 às 21h00; Dia 25 de Julho, das 18h00 às 22h00

Duração: 25h  |  2 ECTS

Modalidade: online

Acreditação: Professores dos grupos: 230, 240, 400, 520, 600.

Objectivos:

• Conhecer o corpo das plantas;
• Desenvolver o conhecimento do uso cultural as plantas em Portugal, na região mediterrânica e no Extremo Oriente;
• Incentivar o diálogo entre botânica, história da arte e práticas visuais;
• Valorizar o património natural e cultural associado às plantas;
• Estimular a criatividade e o pensamento crítico;
• Proporcionar uma experiência formativa interdisciplinar que contribua para a literacia científica e estética dos/as participantes, alinhada com os objectivos formativos e culturais da Escola de Verão da FCSH.

Programa resumido:

O curso propõe uma abordagem interdisciplinar entre a Botânica e a Arte, articulando conteúdos científicos com a história cultural e simbólica das plantas. A estrutura da acção distribui-se por sessões teóricas (online), organizadas em torno dos seguintes eixos temáticos:

1. Botânica clássica e aplicada;
2. O corpo das plantas;
3. Metabolismo das plantas;
4. Uso cultural das plantas;
5. Actividades reflexivas.

🔗 Mais informações e inscrições

On the multiple dimensions – histories, processes, actions, memories and postcolonial legacies – of these independences that changed the configuration of global politics in the second half of the 20th century. Deadline: 15 December 2024

50 Years of the Independence of Portuguese Colonies in Africa:

Processes, Legacies and Memories

In 2025, four former Portuguese colonies in Africa (Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe) will celebrate the 50 th anniversary of their independence, joining Guinea-Bissau which, two years earlier (in September 1973), had unilaterally proclaimed the state of Guinea, formally accessing independence on September 10, 1974. In fact, the complex negotiation processes that opened the door to independence of these territories that had been dominated by Portugal for centuries were not straightforward. Thus, from the Unilateral Declaration of Independence of Guinea (an important precedent at international level) to the opening of negotiation processes in the cases of Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe complex and important geopolitical and transnational webs were established, in the African and global context of the Cold War and the aftermath of the Sino-Soviet split, which are worth analysing.

The aim of this International Conference is to mark the 50 th anniversary of these transcendental events for the lives of African territories once colonized by Portugal, some of whom (Guinea-Bissau, Angola and Mozambique) endured devastating liberation wars/colonial wars. These struggles for emancipation are part of a long history of resistance by the peoples subjected to imperial exploitation, forced labour, racism and colonialism. As it is well known, the processes that led to independence generated multiple dynamics and ramifications which, on the one hand, went beyond the main borders of each territory; on the other, produced internal and external interactions, with various elements and constraints, combining the international context of the time with internal demands for political sovereignty by the colonized peoples.

In this sense, independence should not be interpreted as an isolated historical event, nor as a linear and homogeneous event. There is a specific historicity that characterizes independence processes in each of the territories, processes that are marked by several and diverse complexities. So much so that we cannot separate independence from the struggles of the liberation movements, anti-colonialism, the revolutions in the Third World, anti-imperialism and the struggle against dictatorship and fascism in Portugal. In short, independence resulted from various struggles carried out by the liberation movements on different fronts. Their actions also contributed to the Revolution of April 25, 1974, and, consequently, to the fall of the fascist dictatorship in Portugal.

Call for Papers

After 50 years of these historical events that led to the emergence of new nation-states, this international conference aims to reflect on the multiple dimensions – histories, processes, actions, memories and postcolonial legacies – of these independences that changed the configuration of global politics in the second half of the 20th century. As such, proposals are invited for contributions on topics such as:

• Independence struggles (concepts, political, cultural and social contexts);
• Independence struggles, anti-colonialism, anti-imperialism and Third World revolutions;
• International solidarity with the former Portuguese colonies and intersections with other anticolonial struggles in the context of the Cold War;
• Actors, activists and independentist organizations;
• Gender, education and popular mobilization in the struggles for independence;
• Arts, artivism and cultural manifestations in the struggles for independence;
• Contribution from independence struggles to the fall of Portuguese dictatorship;
• Decolonization after 25 April 1974;
• Building new African nation-states and neo-colonialism;
• Colonial legacies in independent African countries and Portugal;
• Civil wars and democratic transition in independent African countries;
• The construction of memory in independent African countries and Portugal.

Abstracts for presentations (200 words) and a biographical note (250 words) should be sent to the following email: independencias50anos@gmail.com

Deadline for submissions: 15 December 2024
Notification of acceptance: 30 January 2025

Conference languages: Portuguese, English and French

>> Download the call for papers (PT / FR / EN, PDF) <<

Keynote speakers:

Maria da Conceição Neto (Universidade Agostinho Neto)
Severino Elias Ngoenha (Universidade Eduardo Mondlane)

Organisingg Committee:

Aurora Almada e Santos (IHC — NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST)
Julião Soares Sousa (CEIS 20 — Universidade de Coimbra)
Raquel Ribeiro (IHC — NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST)
Víctor Barros (IHC — NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST)

Scientific Committee:

Gabriel Fernandes (Universidade de Santiago)
Jean Martial Arséne Mbah (Investigador, Doutorado em História Contemporânea)
Jean-Michel Mabeko-Tali (Howard University)
Marçal de Menezes Paredes (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul)
Maria Nazaré de Ceita (Universidade de São Tomé)
Michel Cahen (Sciences Po Bordeaux)
Miguel Cardina (Universidade de Coimbra)
Odete Semedo (Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisa, Guiné-Bissau)
Pedro Aires Oliveira (IHC — NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST)
Teresa Cruz e Silva (Universidade Eduardo Mondlane)

Online course of the NOVA FCSH Summer School that focuses on the history of the management of diamond mines and the mineworkers.

A Global History of Diamond Mining

Teacher: Tijl Vanneste

Schedule: 4 to 12 August  |  4 August, 8 to 11AM; following days, 8 to 10AM

Duration: 15h

Type: online

Goals:

Students will develop an understanding of the global history of diamond mining, particularly the management of the mines and the mineworkers. They will also be able to connect this history to the larger histories of slavery, colonialism, labour, technology and capitalism. Secondly, studying diamond mining allows for students to improve their skills in comparative history, and will expand their know-how on relating the present to the past. A number of issues that have been crucial in diamond mining are still extremely relevant today – child’s labour in dangerous circumstances, ecological damage, the mixing of private and state interests. Diamond mining offers an historical interpretation of these phenomena.

Summary programme:

1. Session 1 – Introduction
2. Session 2 – Diamonds from Antiquity to the Seventeenth Century
3. Session 3 – The History of Diamonds in Brazil
4. Session 4 – The Discovery of Diamonds in Africa
5. Session 5 – The De Beers empire
6. Session 6 – Mining in the Post-Colonial World
7. Session 7 – Ecological Concerns & Roundtable

The course will be taught in English

🔗 Mais informações e inscrições

Workshop seeking to encourage a comparative discussion on dissolution of several European empires, with a greater emphasis on those which unravelled in the aftermath of post-1945 European decolonization. Deadline: 30 May 12 June

Contested Imperial Endings

In the twentieth century, the dissolution of several European empires occurred in the context of armed conflicts, whether major conflagrations such as the First World War or the counterinsurgency wars in colonial spaces. Some of these imperial break-ups were sudden, happening after military defeats, such as the capitulation of the German and Habsburg empires in 1918, or as the culmination of protracted colonial wars which proved to be deeply divisive among the metropolitan publics, such as the Algerian war of independence or the decolonization wars in Portuguese-speaking Africa. The circumstances surrounding some of the major political decisions which involved capitulations or negotiated agreements with nationalist movements may have been quite different, but there were significant similarities as well. In all these cases, a sense of wounded pride or deep resentment surfaced in the discussions that followed the political settlements that allowed for the surrender of territory.

Accusations of ‘scuttle’, ‘abandonment’, ‘neglect’, ‘irresponsibility’, or even ‘treason’, came to the fore in several debates, poisoning political discussions for quite some time. The myth of the ‘stab in the back’, which emerged after the German and Austrian collapse of 1918, and was also present in several debates in European metropoles after 1945, influenced conspiracy theories that shaped debates in the following years, with echoes that reach the present day.

Based on an ongoing research project that assesses metropolitan reactions to the conduct of the Portuguese military in East Timor in 1975, a workshop under the auspices of the Institute of Contemporary History and the Portuguese Commission of Military History, will be held in Lisbon in September 2025, seeking to encourage a comparative discussion on some of these themes in various contexts, with a greater emphasis (but not exclusively) on those which unravelled in the aftermath of post-1945 European decolonization.

The expected outcome of the workshop is the submission of a dossier/special issue to an international peer-reviewed journal.

Invited speakers:
Mark Cornwall, David M. Anderson, T. W. Brocades, S. André Bercovic, Victor Delaporte, Pedro Aires Oliveira, Zélia Pereira, and Rui Feijó.

We welcome papers which may highlight:

• The language and images which permeated debates in several countries (United Kingdon, France, Belgium, the Netherlands).
• The role of public opinion and the media.
• The undertaking of inquiry commissions into aspects of decolonization/imperial retreat.
• Attempts to bring charges against individuals (politicians, military) in courts of law.
• The consequences experienced by those targeted by the accusations (i.e., in their political and professional careers, or even on a more violent level).

Please send your abstract (max. 300 words) until 30 May 12 June to projetodectil@gmail.com.
The organizing committee will reply until 15 June.

English will be the working language.
Presentations should be no longer than 20 minutes.

>> Download the Call for Papers (PDF) <<

Organisers:

Institute of Contemporary History, NOVA University Lisbon
Portuguese Commission of Military History

The event is part of the FCT research project DecTiL — Auditing Decolonization in Timor-Leste, 1974-82: the Riscado Report (doi.org/10.54499/2023.10636.25ABR)

Workshop seeking to encourage a comparative discussion on dissolution of several European empires, with a greater emphasis on those which unravelled in the aftermath of post-1945 European decolonization. Deadline: 30 May 12 June

Contested Imperial Endings

In the twentieth century, the dissolution of several European empires occurred in the context of armed conflicts, whether major conflagrations such as the First World War or the counterinsurgency wars in colonial spaces. Some of these imperial break-ups were sudden, happening after military defeats, such as the capitulation of the German and Habsburg empires in 1918, or as the culmination of protracted colonial wars which proved to be deeply divisive among the metropolitan publics, such as the Algerian war of independence or the decolonization wars in Portuguese-speaking Africa. The circumstances surrounding some of the major political decisions which involved capitulations or negotiated agreements with nationalist movements may have been quite different, but there were significant similarities as well. In all these cases, a sense of wounded pride or deep resentment surfaced in the discussions that followed the political settlements that allowed for the surrender of territory.

Accusations of ‘scuttle’, ‘abandonment’, ‘neglect’, ‘irresponsibility’, or even ‘treason’, came to the fore in several debates, poisoning political discussions for quite some time. The myth of the ‘stab in the back’, which emerged after the German and Austrian collapse of 1918, and was also present in several debates in European metropoles after 1945, influenced conspiracy theories that shaped debates in the following years, with echoes that reach the present day.

Based on an ongoing research project that assesses metropolitan reactions to the conduct of the Portuguese military in East Timor in 1975, a workshop under the auspices of the Institute of Contemporary History and the Portuguese Commission of Military History, will be held in Lisbon in September 2025, seeking to encourage a comparative discussion on some of these themes in various contexts, with a greater emphasis (but not exclusively) on those which unravelled in the aftermath of post-1945 European decolonization.

The expected outcome of the workshop is the submission of a dossier/special issue to an international peer-reviewed journal.

Invited speakers:
Mark Cornwall, David M. Anderson, T. W. Brocades, S. André Bercovic, Victor Delaporte, Pedro Aires Oliveira, Zélia Pereira, and Rui Feijó.

We welcome papers which may highlight:

• The language and images which permeated debates in several countries (United Kingdon, France, Belgium, the Netherlands).
• The role of public opinion and the media.
• The undertaking of inquiry commissions into aspects of decolonization/imperial retreat.
• Attempts to bring charges against individuals (politicians, military) in courts of law.
• The consequences experienced by those targeted by the accusations (i.e., in their political and professional careers, or even on a more violent level).

Please send your abstract (max. 300 words) until 30 May 12 June to projetodectil@gmail.com.
The organizing committee will reply until 15 June.

English will be the working language.
Presentations should be no longer than 20 minutes.

>> Download the Call for Papers (PDF) <<

Organisers:

Institute of Contemporary History, NOVA University Lisbon
Portuguese Commission of Military History

The event is part of the FCT research project DecTiL — Auditing Decolonization in Timor-Leste, 1974-82: the Riscado Report (doi.org/10.54499/2023.10636.25ABR)