Project: «RESISTANCE: Rebellion and Resistance in the Iberian Empires, 16th-19th centuries»
Principal investigator: Mafalda Soares da Cunha
The European Commission has just approved the project "“RESISTANCE: Rebellion and Resistance in the Iberian Empires, 16th-19th centuries" within the framework of the European Union's H2020-MSCA-RISE-2017 (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange) program.
The RESISTANCE project addresses economic inequalities, social exclusion, discrimination against minorities, cultural resistance and disruption of social cohesion –all key concerns in the current European and global agenda, both in scholarly work and policy-making. The project aims at analysing 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”. The project 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 time frame (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, to be developed between 2018 and 2022, is lead by the University of Évora (CIDEHUS), and made up of seven beneficiary universities in Portugal, Spain and Germany (Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Instituto de Ciências Sociais da Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Universidad de Cantabria, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela and Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Zur Forderung der Wissenschaften Ev), plus six universities in third countries (Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile; Brown University, USA; Universidade de Cabo Verde; Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil; Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina and El Colegio De Michoacán, Mexico).
In addition to academic-type deliverables, RESISTANCE proposes an extensive range of dissemination and communication outputs specifically targeted at wide-ranging audiences (schools, museums, international agencies, think tanks, policy-makers, and more).
The approval and funding of this project represent an opportunity for international university exchange and an added value for the training and work of young researchers. The project will also allow the development of partnerships between the academy and the social and political organizations of a large group of countries, in a joint and essential reflection on current socio-economic realities, with historical roots that must be understood.
