Portuguese Colonial Research Articles

Jurisdiction and Afro-Brazilian Legal Politics from Colonialism to Early Independence

Abstract Every empire in the Americas developed a law of slavery that connected the forced transoceanic migration of enslaved people with land-based economic production and social life. Competing conceptions of jurisdiction over land and sea emerged from legal processes regarding slavery in the transition from colonial Portuguese rule to early independence in Brazil. Both the Portuguese monarch and post-independence Brazilian ministers sought to assert jurisdiction over residents inside the territory, including enslaved people. Their attempts to do so created social conflicts in which enslaved people put forth their own visions of jurisdiction and justice. Afro-Brazilian people developed a legal politics that drew upon diasporic maritime connections to overturn enslavement. The legal politics of cases regarding uprisings and contraband slave-trading animated concerns among judges and imperial administrators about effective legal order. A revolutionary movement in 1798 contested Portuguese colonial sovereignty with a vision of free-trade popular sovereignty. The monarch’s transfer from Portugal to Brazil in 1808 opened a small route for enslaved people to petition the crown for freedom based on innovative readings of free soil. A major case of capture in 1851 illuminated how the naval court judge adjudicated the case as the capture of an enemy. Captive African people testified in court to gain collective freedom in a liminal space. These claims to freedom raised important questions about legal equality and freedom from illegal trafficking for all people held in slavery in Brazil.

From tradition to recognition: analysis of the potential of the geographical indication for Saubara bobbin lace

Intellectual property generates many global studies for its understanding and application, but most of these studies are focused on standardized and already established products in markets such as coffee, beverages, cheese, among others. Saubara bobbin lace has a centuries-old tradition brought by Portuguese colonizers and transmitted orally to enslaved black people. It is an art that has not yet been formally recognized and protected in its authenticity and has distinctive characteristics that reflect the local cultural heritage. The present work aims to verify the potential of recognizing Saubara bobbin lace as a Geographical Indication (GI), aiming to promote local development, highlighting the benefits associated with valorization and legal protection, serving as an instrument of neo-industrialization. Data were collected through bibliographic and qualitative studies. Legal protection through GI tends to generate financial benefits for the artisan, the recognition and appreciation of the product and the perpetuation of this art. Saubara bobbin lace has different characteristics from those produced in other Brazilian regions, therefore with potential for recognition as GI in the species Indication of Origin.

‘Who have I forgotten': reflections on democracy, memory and colonialism

The pages that Miguel Cardina devotes to his book O Atrito da Memória (The Friction of Memory), published in 2023 by Tinta-da-china, seem scant. The book is subtitled Colonialismo, Guerra e Descolonização no Portugal Contemporâneo (Colonialism, War and Decolonization in Contemporary Portugal) and sets out to analyze the characteristics of the construction of the country’s collective memory regarding the colonial experience, at a time when we are approaching, at high speed, the 50th anniversary of 25 April 1974 and the formal decolonization of the former Portuguese colonies.

Female landscapes

The aim of this article is to reflect on the presence of colonized women in photographs and other representations, such as drawings, posters, postcards, exhibition catalogues, newspapers and magazines, which were disseminated in the context of the Portuguese colonial expositions, and in exhibition spaces conceived by the Portuguese with a colonial component. Generally speaking, the exhibitions sought to put forward the progress, taking into account land, rail and sea transport, but also roads, communications, trade, industry, arts, architecture, culture, and the most recent advances in science and medicine. The exhibitions were also places where the logic of colonial models was staged, showing a clear relationship between colonial domination and gender representation. The research includes several materials produced throughout the 1930s (a fertile period regarding the Portuguese participation in this kind of international events) intended to publicize these exhibitions or serve as a complement to them. These materials may include art works or merely propagandistic works, or works that combine both components. The analysis will include materials associated with several exhibitions between 1931 and 1940, such as the International Colonial Exhibition of Paris (1931), the Lisbon Industrial Exhibition (1932), the Portuguese Colonial Exhibition in Porto (1934), the Exhibition of the Portuguese World in Lisbon (1940), and the Portugal of the Little Ones (Portugal dos Pequenitos) in Coimbra (1940). The contexts in which women appear and the way they are represented — as active beings (performing tasks), as contemplative beings (as in natural landscapes) or as objects of sexual desire, revealing the context of power (legislative, administrative, male and colonial) in which the images and the representations were produced — will be analyzed.

Cabral and Revolution in Portuguese-Speaking Africa

In Amilcar Cabral: The Life of a Reluctant Nationalist, a translation and revision of his earlier Portuguese edition, Antonio Tomas addresses what he sees as a gap between the reality of the armed struggle in Guinea and the ways in which it has been discussed by all previous writers on the subject. He claims to base his critique on newly released archival information and recent publications on Cabral, Portuguese colonialism, and its anti-colonial movements in Africa.

A korai brazil-amerikai kapcsolatok

The United States of America was the first country to recognize the independence of Brazil, when, on May 26, 1824, James Monroe, the President of the US, received José Silvestre Rebello as a chargé d’affaires sent by the Emperor of Brazil to the United States. In reciprocity, on March 9, 1825, President Monroe appointed Condy Raguet to a similar position in Brazil, who presented his credentials to Emperor Pedro I on October 29, 1825. American traders developed business relations with the Portuguese colony already at the end of the eighteenth century, and the economic ties remained important through out the nineteenth century. However, the purpose of this article is to analyze the antecedents and circumstances of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The paper focuses mainly on the early period, the era of the Napoleonic Wars, the presidency of James Madison (1809–1817) and James Monroe (1817-1825), and the activity of John Quincy Adams, who was the secretary of state of the United States from 1817 to 1825 and its president from 1825 to 1829. The paper relies on official documents and the Memoirs of John Quincy Adams as its most important primary sources.

Gender, Intersectionality, and Global Social History

AbstractOne of the most fruitful concepts of recent social analysis has been that of intersectionality, the idea that the nature of oppression is multiplicative rather than additive, and that no one identity – race, class, gender, religion, ability, sexual orientation, and so on – should be considered apart from other identities, but is always materialized in terms of and by means of them. Although it was developed out of the US experience, intersectional epistemology has been dynamic and mobile, as scholars have not simply used social groupings drawn from the Western past and present but have elaborated social categories taken from local understandings as well. This article analyses some recent examples of gendered world history that also take other social hierarchies into account, and assesses how these help us better understand global processes that transformed societies. It begins with a place and time where global entanglements led quite clearly to the emergence of new social groups, the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the Americas, and then more briefly examines this process in other parts of the early modern colonial world.

Histories of the Portuguese colonial war and its (other) images: a photo-text essay

In 1975, my parents-in-law met in Lourenço Marques (Maputo, Mozambique). The period preceding their engagement was marked by profoundly contrasting experiences. Because of his political activities against the Estado Novo dictatorship, he was conscripted into the Portuguese Commandos and participated in the conflict that unfolded in northern Mozambique. Conversely, she travelled from the Portuguese metropolis to Lourenço Marques as a child (following her grandfather’s promotion in public service), and had a happy childhood and adolescence, as documented in a collection of Super 8 films that were entrusted to me. How to reconcile such opposite experiences? And how to honour a legacy of images that do not cease to question me in the critical present? This photo-text essay focuses on a set of images that go beyond the commonly accepted depictions of Portuguese colonialism to problematize issues of resistance, indifference and complicity, showing how private and seemingly insignificant visual materials take part in collective forms of enunciation. It stresses the importance of landscape in conveying unassimilable and traumatic aspects of Portugal’s problematic history, examining how different discourses and imaginal references about war and colonialism reflect various perspectives, experiences and sensibilities, which may or may not align with each other. Ultimately, by drawing on an experimental, self-reflexive and visual approach to history, the essay encourages readers to actively engage in shaping alternative public memories, capable of encompassing the intricacies and diverse facets of history’s manifold manifestations.

Grandes Esperanças – Afryka w polityce zagranicznej Brazylii w XXI w.

“GRANDES ESPERANÇAS” – AFRICA IN THE FOREIGN POLICY OF BRAZIL IN XXI CENTURYThe links between Brazil and African countries go far beyond official political or economic relations and date back to the beginnings of Portuguese colonisation in the New World. They are bound by the painful history of many centuries of slavery, but also the influence of the African population on Brazilian culture, religion and society. Today, Brazil is the country with the second largest population of African descent after Nigeria, yet Brazil’s policy towards Africa seems largely short-term. The aim of the following article is to show the evolution of Brazil’s policy towards Africa in these dimensions from a historical perspective, with particular emphasis on the changes in its dynamics in the 21st century and its inclusion in a broader strategy of the country’s international activity.

Captured by Elites: The Portuguese Media System in Liberalism (1820–1926)

This article argues that the concept of ‘captured media’ is invaluable to a deeper understanding of the roles performed by media systems throughout European liberalism and early democratization of nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This case-study explores the structures of the media system during Portuguese Liberalism (1820–1926) in the scope of the Portuguese empire. The concept of the ‘Imperial Public Sphere’ is applied to show how imperial and colonial elites captured the media system to exercise and spread its political and ideological power. As a methodological approach to analyze the roles performed by press, the case-study relies on the model developed by Hallin and Mancini (2004), which is applied to three empirical cases. The use of the concept ‘captured media’ in the field of media history is a contribution to understanding the political roots of the press during colonialism and its legacy to contemporary media systems in Lusophone countries.

Tourism Industry in Dadra and Nagar Haveli: Prospects, Challenges and Government Initiatives

The paper discussed prospects and challenges of tourism industry in Dadra and Nagar Haveli. It has found that Dadra and Nagar Haveli is popular among tourist due to lush greenery and immense natural beauty. It previously was a Portuguese colony. It is famous for the production of baskets, weaving of bamboo mats and leather slippers. Nakshatra Garden, Vasona Lion Safari, Satmaliya Deer Park, Dudhani, Hirwa Van Garden and Vanganga Lake are the major attractions. Sahyadri Mountains (Western Hills) is the another tourist attraction. It has reserve of minerals like sulphur, selenite, nickel, limestone and gold. BAPS Swaminarayan Temple is famous among tourists. Barash is the popular tribal festival celebrated in September month. Ragi (nagli), rice, bajra and kodra are the staple food of the tribals. Its main tribes are Varli, Kokna and Dhodia with small groups of Dubla, Naika, Kathodi and Koli scattered over the territory. Dublas and Dhodias tribes are more found in the northern part, but Varlis and Koknas are found all over the territory. The key challenges facing tourism are the lack of marketing and promotion activities, inadequate infrastructure, lack of skilled manpower, safety and security. Although there are many challenges before the tourism industry, but it has bright future prospect in tourism.

Cold War Liberation: The Soviet Union and the Collapse of the Portuguese Empire in Africa, 1961-7

This absorbing account of relations between the Soviet Union and the leaders of anticolonial movements fighting to liberate Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau from Portuguese rule in the 1960s and 1970s is in part the fruit of Natalia Telepneva's doctoral dissertation under the supervision of Odd Arne Westad,1 whose own work looms large in the historiography of the Cold War. The book opens like a spy thriller with a Soviet military plane landing in Luanda on the day Agostinho Neto, leader of the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA), is set to be inaugurated as the first president of independent Angola. On board the An-12 is an intelligence officer by the name of Boris Putilin, 'whose job had been to coordinate arms transfers from the Soviet Union'2 to the MPLA. Putilin is almost shot at by an Angolan solider but is rescued in time to attend the inauguration by the chief of airport security.

Managing Luso-Utopia in Guinea-Bissau: Imperial Fictions and Dwelling Practices in Late Portuguese Colonialism (1945-74)

Portugal ruled Guinea-Bissau (then Portuguese Guinea), one of the last European colonial empires, until 1974, when the fifty-year dictatorship was overthrown and the colony dismantled. Until that time, its power had been maintained through the productive nationalist fiction, commonly referred to as luso-tropicalism, that the Portuguese created peaceful multi-racial colonial cultures through miscegenation. This paper examines the spatial production of this fiction as a concrete political utopia in the empire’s last phase in Africa, from 1945 to 1974, by looking at how colonial spatial practices in Guinea-Bissau contributed to both the assembling and the disassembling of empire. Grounded in original archival and field research conducted in Guinea-Bissau from 2019 to 2023, this paper asks what architectural and urban planning practices supported the fruition of a luso-tropical horizon. This involves analysing not only experts and their designs, but also how these contributed to everyday experiences of space through which Portuguese and Guineans dwelled in the luso-tropical utopia. Dwelling is here understood as both a set of architectural practices that define housing and city as well as the lived experience of urbanity. This approach enables a critical examination of how Portugal’s enduring imperial fiction was produced, managed, and lived in colonial spatialities, while also identifying the residue from colonialism that has persisted from these dwelling experiences into the present. This article, thus, expands the field of colonial architecture historiography by presenting a little-known case study which exposes architecture’s ties to governance, violence and resistance; it also assesses the political effects and residues of a colonial utopia in the present, by addressing the lived experience and agency of Guineans in architecture history.

O colonialismo e as identidades em trânsito em Luanda, Lisboa, Paraíso, de Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida

Considering the large population flow between Portugal and the former Portuguese colonies after the end of Portuguese domain over the African colonies, the existence of complex and conflicting identities, such as that of the returnees, has been accentuated in contemporary times. In view of this finding, the objective is to analyze the influence of Portuguese colonization in Africa in the construction of the identities of Cartola and Aquiles, characters from Luanda, Lisboa, Paraíso, by Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida. In the movement of leaving the colony and going to the metropolis, crises linked to belonging and identity are accentuated as aspects of the Portuguese colonial imaginary are illuminated. For this purpose, authors who establish the relationship between identity, literature and history, such as Eduardo Lourenço and Margarida Calafate Ribeiro, are analyzed. In this way, it is observed that the life condition imposed on the returnees demarcates an epic in reverse, which allows us to conclude that the marks of Portuguese exploration are planted beyond territorial limits and demarcate subjective territories.

A Gold Ounce for Every Throat Cut

Peace in the Banda Oriental, at the borders between the Spanish and Portuguese empires in the Río de la Plata region, marks one of the major developments in the political geography of Latin America from 1777-1801, yet the subject has not been studied rigorously. This chapter explores how this peace came about after failing several times previously. Both Spanish and Portuguese colonial agents and policy-makers affected such peace by overcoming resistance to imperialism. A Luso-Hispanic policy of removal resulted in the Jesuits’ loss of power in South America. Several successful mapping expeditions reduced Iberian dependence on native guides, limiting indigenous control over European colonization. Near extermination of cattle in the region and increased Spanish and Portuguese patrols over grazing lands curbed much of the illicit cattle hunting in the Río de la Plata. And the Spanish conquest of Colonia del Sacramento, a key contraband base, decreased smugglers’ activity in the region. As the power of these non-governmental actors diminished, Iberian empires augmented their claims to sovereignty in the region and could finally affect the peace that Lisbon and Madrid so desired. This moment demonstrates a brief apogee in Iberian colonial control in the late eighteenth century.

The Correlation Between Asian Port Cities and Traditional Portuguese Urban Forms Based on Map and Machine Learning Analyses

In the 16th and 17th centuries, under the influence of the Portuguese Empire’s overseas expansion and cultural integration, the island city of Macau became an important international trading port in the Eastern Sea, with close ties to the Asian port cities governed by Portugal. This study introduces a new method for comparing urban morphological layouts using machine learning and investigates the potential benefits of combining urban morphological analysis with machine learning techniques. In addition, a combination of urban morphology theory and machine learning is used to excise samples of urban morphology from Portuguese urban geographical information maps. The morphological characteristics of port city areas are further extracted, and training labels for typical Portuguese urban textures are established. Using the YOLOv4 object detection algorithm, the results are compared with the urban textures of typical island and port cities of the Asian Silk Road—Goa in India, Malacca in Malaysia, Macau in China, and Dili in Timor-Leste—revealing the similarities and differences among the port cities in Asia influenced by traditional Portuguese urban practices. The results reveal the relationship between maritime trade and urban form.

The ‘other’ in images from the Portuguese Colonial War

The ‘other’ in images from the Portuguese Colonial War

“El prisionero”: a romance in a story by João Guimarães Rosa

Recorded since the 16th century by oral and written traditions, the romance “El prisionero” was transmitted by different ethnic groups, from the Iberian Peninsula to Spanish and Portuguese colonies of the New World. Brazilian writer João Guimarães Rosa rephrased this vast repertoire of traditions in his prose fiction. Considering this premise and reference works on the Iberian romance, this study aims to discuss the possible influence of “El prisionero” in “Quadrinho de estória” (1967), examining themes and motives of the tale and the romance.

An Exceptional Retrocession: the Establishment of the Macau SAR from a Political Perspective

Abstract In late 1999, Macau became a Special Administrative Region (SAR) under the administration of the People’s Republic of China and the “one country, two systems” principle, following a different, unique path compared to former Portuguese colonies. In light of such a reality, this paper uses postcolonial theory to situate the political debate involving the SAR’s establishment. Furthermore, it suggests that the two main factors that explain Macau’s potential exceptionalism in the Lusophone world, when it comes to decolonisation processes, are the retrocession concept and the Macanese political structure, which, in turn, helped to guarantee smooth repatriation proceedings.

The Independence of Brazil and Its Historiography

Abstract This article reviews the main historiographical explanations for Brazil’s 1822 independence from Portugal while presenting a new interpretation of the country’s emancipation process. While previous interpretations emphasized the role of elites in the independence movement, new quantitative evidence sheds light on the profound impact of the Portuguese Empire’s fiscal turmoil, marked by excessive expenditures and inflation, which triggered generalized discontent in both Brazil and Portugal. Political unrest ensued, leading to demands for constitutional change and the end of absolutism. The differing effects of the fiscal crisis in Europe and South America ignited a unified call for reform. Political emancipation therefore occurred in a two-stage process: a liberal revolution followed by constitutional conflict, resulting in Brazil’s independence.