Preliminary Programme

The historical constitution and evolution of the third Portuguese colonial empire was shaped by particular politics of difference based on policies that aimed to render legible and administer sociocultural and ethnic diversity in colonial societies. The general legal frameworks that regulated the “native question” determined social, political and economic rights, and duties, defining the contents and the limitations of imperial (sub)citizenship. In this process, the labour question played a crucial role. Labour was the cornerstone of the Portuguese “civilizing mission” and, accordingly, of its idioms, repertoires and policies of imperial legitimation, born out of political choices, ideological constructs and economic necessity. Modalities of coerced labour were unusually resilient within the Portuguese imperial space, as testified by the late legal abolition of slavery and, later on, with the protracted revocation of legal modalities of forced labour. In this presentation we will address two fundamental intertwined historical processes. On one hand, scrutinize the role of labour and labour relations in the definition of the (sub)citizenship regimes that characterized the Portuguese imperial formation, since 1870s and until the 1960s, looking essentially to Angola and Mozambique. On the other, evaluate the ways in which labour and citizenship politics and policies were integrated within a broader, global debate that brought together philanthropic and reformist movements, anti-colonial networks and intergovernmental and interimperial institutions, among others. (Show less)

In the second half of the fifteenth century, more precisely in 1444, Portuguese sailors called lanceados (Portuguese emigrants) frequented the Senegalese coasts. They created ports on the small coast at Rio Fresco (Rufisque), Porto d'Ale (Portudal), Joala (Joal) to trade with the local populations. They united with the local population and were thus at the origin of Métis communities. The mulatto (Métis) women from these unions were called “signaras” by Portuguese travelers, meaning “seniorita, madame” to indicate the high social status they held in the mulatto community of the small coast. Early on, the Signares began trading with the Portuguese and the Dutch, exporting leather, indigo, spices, and manufacturing cotton products for the region.
However, following the loss of the Portuguese commercial monopoly on the small coast and the French occupation of Dutch Gorée in 1677 and the violence of the slave trade on the small coast, the Signares will be dispossessed of their trade. They left the small island with their families and migrated partly to the Gambia, then to Gorée and Saint-Louis at the beginning of the 18th century. In Gorée and Saint-Louis, the Signares engaged in “trendy marriages of the country” (contractual marriages) with the French. These ties enabled them to enrich themselves and invest in the gum and gold trade. They formed a new social class combining western and local culture. They are formidable bourgeois; they dressed elegantly and build luxury houses in Gorée and Saint-Louis. The abolition of slavery in 1848, the influence of missionaries and the arrival of settlers accompanied by their wives caused the social and economic decline of the Signares.
The objective of this communication is to study the economic and social development of this new social class of mulatto women in a predominantly black Senegalese society. We intend to explore the complex work relations in Senegal through the Senegalese Signares. (Show less)

This paper explores the labour role of the local populations in a comparative perspective between Dutch Cape Colony and the Dutch Guianas (Suriname, Berbice, Demerara and Essequibo). Both at the Cape and at the Guianas, slavery was the most important form of labour, but they were constantly short on slaves and the number of Europeans not sufficient. In addition, it was difficult to maintain the servile population in control as marooning was omnipresent in direction of the extensive hinterland. Nonetheless, both the Cape and the Guianas were no terra nullius as they were inhabited with local populations centuries before the arrival of Europeans. Historiography has often omitted the presence of these local populations to the fact that 'they were there' and that the Dutch employed much efforts to remain on friendly terms with them.
At the Cape, extensive research on Dutch Cape colony has given some important reflections on the role of Khoisan over a period of 150 years. More insight in their role as free labourers, alongside slaves, however, is still lacking: how many of them worked where? What was their relationship with the slaves? Amerindian labour in the Caribbean and New World plantation slavery has received even less attention from scholars. Research has only exclusively focused on ‘red slaves’ and nearly nothing is known about the work done by free Amerindians. Much less is known about the working relations between the free local population, the slaves and their direct, often European, overseers.
Thanks to the analysis of primary source material, this paper explores both the importance of the free local population in the labour force and their working relations with labourers of other statutes. First, it analyses the role of the Amerindians and African local free populations within these colonies. Then, it explores their working relations within these regions and their relations with the other workers. Finally, it identifies the changes that occurred in respect to their status as free labourers. (Show less)