TransatlanticLab: CEsA joins consortium of universities and institutions from Europe, Africa and the Caribbean in Horizon Europe project to analyse the legacies of colonialism

CEsA – Centre for African and Development Studies (ISEG RESEARCH/ISEG–University of Lisbon), represented by Professor Iolanda Évora, has joined a consortium of universities and institutions from Europe, Africa and the Caribbean to develop the research project TransatlanticLab – Transatlantic Crossroads Lab. The project aims to examine, from a material perspective, the colonial and postcolonial dynamics between Africa, Europe and the Americas from the 16th century to the present.

The project is led by the Institute of History (IH) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), coordinated by researcher Consuelo Naranjo Orovio (CSIC/Institute of History) and funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Staff Exchange (MSCA-SE) programme, under Horizon Europe (2021–2027), the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation. The MSCA-SE actions promote international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration in research and innovation through staff mobility and, consequently, knowledge exchange at all stages of the scientific process.

TransatlanticLab – Transatlantic Crossroads Lab

TransatlanticLab seeks to highlight how European colonialism, since the 16th century, has transformed Caribbean and African societies, altering their ecosystems and landscapes and creating patterns of environmental impact with regional variations. It will also analyse the perpetuation or reinvention of socio-racial and environmental inequalities, as well as examine the intersection between biopolitics and eugenics, offering new perspectives on power dynamics.

The project consortium includes 25 partners based in 17 countries across Europe, Africa and the Americas:

• Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) – Spain
• Universidad de Sevilla – Spain
• Université Gustave Eiffel – France
• Université des Antilles – France
• École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) – France
• Institute of Social Sciences (ICS-UL) – Portugal
• Universität Mannheim – Germany
• Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC) – Italy
• Fundación Ignacio Larramendi – Spain
• Museo de América – Spain
• Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) – Dominican Republic
• Fundación Universidad del Norte (UNINORTE) – Colombia
• Universidad del Magdalena – Colombia
• University of Costa Rica (UCR) – Costa Rica
• The University of the West Indies – Jamaica
• National Scientific and Technical Research Council (Conicet) – Argentina
• Antonio Núñez Jiménez Foundation for Nature and Humanity (FANJ) – Cuba
• University of Bertoua – Cameroon
• Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny – Côte d’Ivoire
• Museo de Las Americas – United States
• Mexican Association of Caribbean Studies (AMEC) – Mexico
• Roça Mundo – São Tomé and Príncipe
• NOVA University Lisbon – Portugal
• National Library Institute of Cabo Verde – Cabo Verde
• Centre for African and Development Studies (CEsA) – Portugal

CEsA’s Role

In this context, researcher Iolanda Évora, on behalf of CEsA/ISEG Research/ISEG/University of Lisbon, will integrate the team of Portuguese, Cape Verdean and São Toméan institutions, led by Professor and ICS-UL researcher Cristiana Bastos. CEsA will contribute to the implementation of selected activities within the Work Package on Slavery, Race and Biopolitics, which aims to analyse the logics and distinctions in the use of race, theories, concepts and various socio-racial categories in the different contexts in which they are produced. The objective is to deepen understanding of the features that enabled racism to become the theoretical basis of the eugenics movement, as well as a condition for its emergence.

The tasks are outlined below:

Task 4: Contextualise the cases of Cape Verde and São Tomé within the Caribbean Atlantic plantation world, initially as experimental plantations and intermediary stations, and later integrated into the post-Caribbean plantation economy of European colonialism in Africa. Participating institutions: ICS-UL, CEsA/ISEG Research/ISEG/University of Lisbon, University of Seville, National Library Institute of Cabo Verde, CSIC Institute of History, Antonio Núñez Jiménez Foundation for Nature and Humanity, Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, and NOVA University Lisbon.

Task 6: Study the intersection of labour, class, gender, and race. Participating institutions: ICS-UL, CEsA/ISEG Research/ISEG/University of Lisbon, NOVA University Lisbon, University of Seville, National Library Institute of Cabo Verde, EHESS, CSIC Institute of History, Antonio Núñez Jiménez Foundation for Nature and Humanity, and Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny.

Task 8: Nation-states and racial biopolitics: narratives of creolisation and white settlers. Participating institutions: ICS-UL, CEsA/ISEG Research/ISEG/University of Lisbon, National Library Institute of Cabo Verde, CSIC Institute of History, National Scientific and Technical Research Council (Conicet), Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, and NOVA University Lisbon.

Task 10: Examine economic, social, and cultural markers of inequality. Participating institutions: ICS-UL, CEsA/ISEG Research/ISEG/University of Lisbon, University of Seville, National Library Institute of Cabo Verde, EHESS, CSIC Institute of History, Conicet, Antonio Núñez Jiménez Foundation for Nature and Humanity, Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, University of Costa Rica, and NOVA University Lisbon.

To achieve these objectives, research will be conducted in archives and libraries in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Cuba, Spain, Argentina, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin and Costa Rica.

For further updates, visit the CEsA website, LinkedIn, Facebook, and the CEsA Agenda.

Read more:

El Instituto de Historia lidera un proyecto europeo para analizar las huellas del colonialismo (CCHS’ website)

El CSIC lidera dos proyectos europeos para mejorar las terapias oncológicas y analizar la huella del colonialismo (CSIC website)

Author: CEsA Communication Team (comunicacao@cesa.iseg.ulisboa.pt) with information from CSIC
Imagens: Reproduction