The Colours of the Empire: Racialized Representations during Portuguese Colonialism

by Patrícia Ferraz de Matos

The Portuguese Colonial Empire established its base in Africa in the fifteenth century and would not be dissolved until 1975. This book investigates how the different populations under Portuguese rule were represented within the context of the Colonial Empire by examining the relationship between these representations and the meanings attached to the notion of ‘race’. Colour, for example, an apparently objective criterion of classification, became a synonym or near-synonym for ‘race’, a more abstract notion for which attempts were made to establish scientific credibility. Through her analysis of government documents, colonial propaganda materials and interviews, the author employs an anthropological perspective to examine how the existence of racist theories, originating in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, went on to inform the policy of the Estado Novo (Second Republic, 1933–1974) and the production of academic literature on ‘race’ in Portugal. This study provides insight into the relationship between the racist formulations disseminated in Portugal and the racist theories produced from the eighteenth century onward in Europe and beyond.

308 pages, Library Binding

First published October 1, 2006

About the author

PATRÍCIA FERRAZ DE MATOS é licenciada em Antropologia pela Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra (1997). Concluiu o Mestrado em Ciências Sociais, especialidade em Antropologia Social e Cultural, na Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa (2005) e o Doutoramento em Ciências Sociais, especialidade em Antropologia Social e Cultural, no Instituto de Ciências Sociais da Universidade de Lisboa (2012). Actualmente, é investigadora de pós-doutoramento no ICS-UL, com o projecto Tramas da ciência: Um olhar antropológico sobre as redes constitutivas da construção do conhecimento científico.
É membro da American Anthropological Association (AAA), Society for the Anthropology of Europe (SAE), European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA), Associação Portuguesa de Antropologia (APA), Sociedade Portuguesa de Antropologia e Etnologia (SPAE), Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa (SGL) e Women in Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies (WISPS).