Western European Empires – From Colonial Past to Postcolonial World

INSTRUCTORS

Jorge Pedreira, Pedro Aires Oliveira, José Neves, Pedro Cardim, Alexandra Pelúcia

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is devoted to the history of the Western European colonial empires, with a particular focus in the case of Portugal and its empire, combining global and national perspectives. It covers the period between the early sixteenth century and the late twentieth century. The course will provide students with key insights on the historical development of the Western European colonial empires and will highlight the social construction of their memories. The uses of the colonial past in building and rebuilding collective (national) identities and for the legitimation and de-legitimation of modern polities will be explored. Particular
emphasis will be placed on how that memory was contested and negotiated, and to what extent the legacies of empire are still present in the social, cultural and institutional fabric of both the former imperial powers
and the post-colonial states.
Part 1 provides an overview of the Western European empires, from the early modern period to the
twentieth century. Part 2 focuses on the Portuguese case and surveys topics such as slavery and its place in the Portuguese empire, and resistance against the Portuguese colonial rule. Part 3 is devoted to the nineteenth and twentieth century imperialism, as well as to the end of the colonial regime. Part 4 is about the presence of the colonial past in late twentieth century Portugal.