MEMOIRS focuses on the intergenerational memories of the children and grandchildren of those involved in the decolonization processes of colonies held by France, Portugal and Belgium. Through interviews of this second and third generation, and a comparative analysis of the cultures influenced by the postmemory of the colonial wars and the end of empire, Europe's postcolonial heritage will be reinterrogated, and a new understanding of the contemporary continent will be developed. At the heart of the project is a desire to comprehend the effects of Europe's postimperial diversity through postmemories of colonial praxis. The project is interdisciplinary, bringing together specialists from literary and cultural studies, arts, history, sociology and migration studies. MEMOIRS aims to maximize the impact of its findings through broad web, open-access publications and an itinerant artistic exhibit that captures multiple aspects of the representations of postmemory, and fosters a meaningful North-South dialogue.

The main objective of POLITICS is to innovate knowledge on anti-racism that brings about a greater understanding of how historically rooted injustices are being challenged by institutions and grassroots movements. Considering the centrality and mutual influence of Europe and Latin America in the global processes of racial formation, POLITICS will develop an inter-disciplinary and comprehensive approach towards two core goals: (a) the analysis of processes of knowledge production about ‘race’ and (anti-)racism in the spheres of (inter)national governmental politics, State universities and grassroots movements; (b) the examination of diverse paths of denunciation and collective mobilisation against everyday racism concerning police practice and representations in the mass media. POLITICS embraces a multilevel analysis and information-oriented selection of case-studies in three interrelated research streams: (i) Global, regional and state-sponsored political frameworks and public policies; (ii) Cultures of scholarship and the study of racism and (post)colonialism at State universities; (iii) Tackling everyday racism: processes of denunciation, political mobilisation and case-law concerning police practice, and racist representations in the media and mass media. The research challenges the shortcomings of evaluative comparisons and the selection of research contexts enables interrogating the relations between the global, national and local levels. They include the Organisation of American States, the European Union and national and local politics in Brazil, Peru, Portugal and Spain. Qualitative research and data collection engage with race critical theories, critical discourse analysis and participatory methods that consider power/knowledge at their core. POLITICS will unravel the configuration of different notions of dignity, justice and equality resulting from anti-racist struggles and policy interventions and their significance for envisaging decolonial horizons.

Animals and plants feature prominently in cultural productions about the Amazon, testifying to the centrality of the region’s natural environment both for local populations and for the earth’s biosphere. The key hypothesis of ECO is that texts (broadly understood to include mythology, folk tales, the lyrics of songs, essays, literature, travel writings, etc.), cinema and art about this area highlight the ways in which non-human beings dynamically shape human cultural life. The project’s main challenge is to resort both to Amazonian thought and to the academic field of ecocriticism to assess how human cultural productions about Amazonia lend a voice to animals and plants. ECO develops the concept of zoophytography to describe the inscription of non-humans in texts, films and artworks, thus decentering humanity as the sole source of meaning-making. Research stream I. “Amazonian Zoophytography” formulates a definition of this notion and traces its roots to Indigenous and riverine epistemologies and to Western philosophy. Through archival research, ECO will then gather and analyze sources that portray Amazonian animals and plants from the beginning of the twentieth century onwards in two other research streams: II. “Animal Talk: Zoography Spelled Out” focuses on the articulation of animals in cultural productions about the Amazon; III. “Flora’s Voice: Phytographic Conversations” analyzes plant inscription in texts, cinema and artworks that question the role of vegetal life as a passive form of existence. ECO will make a significant contribution to the environmental humanities, offering an Amazonian perspective on ecocriticism, environmental philosophy and post-colonial studies. By creating a deeper understanding of conceptions of Amazonian fauna and flora, the project will reveal the interdependence of humans and non-humans, draw attention to environmental degradation in Amazonia and uncover more equitable views on animals and plants from the region.

EDULIBERA proposes to study the ‘education as a liberation instrument’ dimension of the independence movements in Mozambique and Timor-Leste, uncovering the histories of encounters and solidarity between the two peoples from 1974 onwards. The objective is to understand how the circulation of ideas and people between these two places could potentially form the base of common principles around education and social emancipation. Also, it will analyse the role of these memories and silenced histories in education and knowledge production today, in the contexts of their post-conflict experiences, and the extent of the fulfilment of the anti-colonial movements imagined futures. In terms of training and career advancement, the objectives will be to broaden the researcher’s expertise and participation in academic networks, consolidate her research profile as one of independence and promote her longer-term integration in the academic profession. As an early career researcher who is returning to Portugal after a period conducting her PhD studies in Australia and fieldwork in Timor-Leste, this will constitute a significant support to her reintegration in the European research community. Benefiting from the supervision of an experienced academic and engagement with a research group at CES, this will improve the researcher’s capacity to produce high-impact publications, take part in international collaborations and conferences, opening new career possibilities. EDULIBERA’s innovative research significance translates into studying alternative knowledges, formed through subaltern historical processes in the global south, opening up space for more critical and democratic views of the world. It is crucial to promote these knowledges about solidarity and dignity that stem from post-conflict and transnational histories at a time when Europe is facing ethnical and religious intolerance and the revival of fascist groups in politics and society.