Description

Economic inequalities, social exclusion, discrimination against minorities, cultural resistance and disruption of social cohesion – these are all key concerns in the current European and global agenda, both in scholarly work and policy-making. RESISTANCE aims to analyse these issues by focusing on the processes of resistance carried out by social actors that have been historically disadvantaged, discriminated against and dominated.
By using a concept of resistance that connects continued and less visible forms of resistance, cultural dissent and violent revolts, the ultimate goal of RESISTANCE is to produce a reinterpretation of the
universe of “the dominated”. RESISTANCE will provide an understanding of how these actors could influence processes of social change, either by opening up societies to diversity and making them
more inclusive and equal, or, conversely, by causing the increase of repression.
Rooted in the disciplinary field of history, RESISTANCE uses the past as a laboratory for the analysis. Focusing on the former Portuguese and Spanish empires, this project privileges a comparative approach
in time and space in order to investigate an extended timeframe (sixteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries) and a spatial framework that encompasses Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia.
The past experiences of their societies, strongly grounded on ethnic, social, economic, cultural, religious, and gender inequality, still shape current political and social dynamics.
RESISTANCE is led by the University of Évora, and made up of seven beneficiary universities in Portugal, Spain and Germany, plus six universities in third countries (Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Cape Verde,
Mexico and USA).

Principal Investigator (PI)

Mafalda Soares da Cunha, University of Évora (CIDEHUS)

NOVA’s PI: Pedro Cardim, CHAM – NOVA FCSH

Type of Collaboration: NOVA-UÉvora