What we do

CONCILIARE is a transnational, cross-cultural, and interdisciplinary research project coordinated by the University of Coimbra (Portugal). All its research and dissemination activities are structured across four “Work Packages” (WPs):

We invite you to explore them

WP1: Textbooks

"Education must move beyond mere representation; it should challenge the colonial narratives that persist in textbooks and classrooms, empowering students to question and critique"

Zaretta Hammond

WP1 will study the construction and evolution of colonial narratives and images portrayed in history, geography, religion, and native language textbooks for students aged 15 to 18. Expanding on previous research about colonialism in European history textbooks, CONCILIARE will examine textbooks published in three countries –Finland, Italy, and Portugal– from the 1950s to the early 2000s.

As part of its research, WP1 will assess the emotional impact of changes in narratives and images of the colonial past across different groups, depending on their gender, generation, and ethnic background. Last but not least, WP1 will identify the best approaches for engaging with this history in ways that foster understanding and trust.

WP2: Public spaces

"Decolonization is not just about removing statues; it's about creating a public narrative that recognizes the complexity of our histories and the ongoing struggles for justice"

Gurminder K. Bhambra

Statues, monuments, and street names are crucial in shaping our collective memories, sense of place and identity. However, they are not impartial records of history but a form of memory of the past. They reflect the interests of elites seeking to impose their vision of the past and legitimize the colonial project.

Today, this past is the subject of debate and controversy. Through a multidisciplinary approach, CONCILIARE aims to identify traces of colonialism in public spaces across three former colonial powers—Belgium, Portugal, and Italy—and to investigate how memory activists are challenging the coloniality of this heritage.

WP3: Museums

"Decolonizing museums requires us to reject the idea that we can simply 'add' more voices. It's about fundamentally rethinking who gets to define culture"

Hammad Nasar

Museums are powerful cultural artifacts historically linked to the birth of the nation-state, the origins of capitalism and the legitimization of the European project of colonial expansion. In museums, things are said, but things are also done while speaking: reality is evaluated and hierarchized, so that a certain way of conceiving and being in the world is conveyed.

According to James Clifford, museums are “contact zones”: places for knowing and recognizing the strategies of domination and resistance that constituted the subjects in the past and which, above all, define them in the postcolonial and multicultural present. CONCILIARE will focus especially on two museums which are our associated partners: the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren (Belgium) and the African Museum (Fondazione Nigrizia Onlus) in Verona (Italy).

WP4: Culture & Traditions

“What makes the colonial discourse so powerful is its subtle migration into the minds of astute consumers, even those who recognize its negative impact, and actively seek to resist it”

Samuel K. Bonsu

CONCILIARE focuses on how young adults in four European countries perceive and discuss changes in everyday cultural products and traditions linked to Colonial Cultural Heritage. It will analyze their feelings, interpretations, and attitudes specifically towards food products with racialized images and ‘blackface’ traditions, and the possible implications for identity, social inequalities, and inter-group relations in contemporary Europe.

Ultimately, the study wants to foster confidence in these changes by promoting awareness and reflexiveness on the continued legacies of colonialism in modern Europe through cultural consumption.