Call for papers 2023 1st Semester

“Diasporas, migrations, and cultures in a historical perspective”

Men and women who, departing from various parts of the African continent, risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean illegally; war refugees from Syria or Ukraine; Venezuelans who flee to neighboring countries... Every day we get news of people who, for economic, humanitarian or both reasons, leave their countries with the hope of a better life. In fact, few of these phenomena are new in human history. Migratory movements even constitute a structural aspect of human life. When the issue of migration is discussed in the media or in public policy forums, the debate is marked by a dichotomy of terms: “legal”/ “illegal”, “forced”/ “voluntary”, “economic migrants”/ “refugees” … However, usually historians are not invited to participate in such debates. Academics from other disciplines, policy makers and the media tend to ignore a historical perspective that could help them better interpret migrations today, often presenting them as “unprecedented”.

HISTÓRIA – REVISTA DA FLUP aims to contribute to the debate by organizing a special issue on “Diasporas, migrations, and cultures in a historical perspective”. Therefore, researchers are invited to submit proposals for articles covering any chronology and/or geography. The objective is, precisely, to present the reader with a varied set of articles that, read as a whole, offer a diversified perspective on the migratory phenomenon and the formation of diasporic communities, with particular emphasis on their cultural manifestations (food, music, religion, language…). Approaches in the field of political, socio-economic, or demographic history are welcome, but of particular interest will be proposals with a cultural history approach. As underlined by Stuart Hall, it is important to understand how people from different cultures, different languages, different religious beliefs, when meeting in the same place, where they had to make their lives and interact with each other, developed strategies to live together with difference. On the other hand, and in a century in which diasporas are digitally connected, it is important to understand how cultural phenomena (eg. music) emerge as connecting elements of communities dispersed around the world (see the case of Cape Verde). Tradition and innovation appear, therefore, as phenomena that complement each other.

Without ignoring the countless examples of conflicts that these encounters often involve, we are particularly interested in approaches that allow us to understand the cases in which people with different heritages meet and converge. Such an approach implies a broad reflection that considers, among others, the concepts of diaspora, identity formation, cosmopolitanism, and the very idea of culture.

Author's guidelines