Generically used to designate the set of Portuguese-speaking communities in the world, the idea of “Lusophony” is plural and controversial. Regina Queiroz led the initiative.
Indeed, on the one hand, critics of Lusophony challenges and opportunities in the Portuguese language not only impoverishes a concept that deviates from being more comprehensive and includes the cultural, linguistic and political relations of different communities, but is also associated with a political strategy and cultural without any correspondence with the culture, for example, of African peoples.
On the other hand, its defenders reiterate that linguistic unity both strengthens the negotiation of cooperation between Portuguese-speaking communities and intensifies the sharing of their disparate, even conflicting, cultural and historical elements (see the case of colonialism and its sequels). Defending Lusophony would imply, in this case, recognizing that there are several owners of the Portuguese language and assuming its cultural, political and historical diversity.
By emphasizing their belonging to this plural and diverse space, this meeting aims to provide a space for debate between professors and researchers at Universidade Lusófona through which they will contribute to a) a clarification of the idea of Lusophony; b) the sharing, not always conflict-free, of the culture, history and politics of Portuguese-speaking communities.
Program
9:00 am – Reception of participants
9:15 am – Intervention by Manuel Damásio (Administrator of COFAC)
10:00 am – Lecture by Álvaro Vasconcelos (Director of the Institute for Security Studies of the European Union between May 2007 and May 2012 and founder of the Institute for Strategic and International Studies in Lisbon)
Moderator
António Costa Pinto, Director of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Administration and Education (FCSEA). Lusófona University.
10:45 – Coffee Break
11:00 am – Round table with professors from ULusófona and IPLUSO
Moderator
Liliana Reis (Director of the Degree in Political Science and International Relations at Universidade Lusófona)
12:20 pm – Final Considerations
Professor Regina Queiroz. FCSEA, Universidade Lusófona.
Main Speakers
- Manuel Damásio, Administrator of COFAC
- Álvaro Vasconcelos, Director of the European Union Institute for Security Studies between May 2007 and May 2012 and founder of the Lisbon Institute for Strategic and International Studies (IEEI).