La legitimidad de la palabra: la historia de los régulos poscoloniales en Guinea Bissau

Este artículo aborda el papel de las autoridades tradicionales en Guinea Bissau en la actualidad, y procura entenderlas como actores de un proceso histórico de larga duración, desde su historia precolonial y colonial. Mirando restrospectivamente la situación de las autoridades tradicionales hacia finales de la época colonial (inicios años setenta), el estudio examina la distinta configuración de la legitimidad de las actuales autoridades tradicionales en sus relaciones con la población local y las autoridades estatales

Ambiguous representations: power and mimesis in colonial Guinea

This paper explores some aspects of the ambiguity of power relations during the colonial period that still influence the postcolonial construction of the nation. The colonial encounter led to the confrontation of local political institutions with the colonial project of cultural and political hegemony. Local intermediaries were particularly sensitive to this mutual game of domination, integration and exclusion. Focusing on the iconographic representations of a category of such intermediaries, the régulos or local chiefs in Guinea-Bissau – both from the local point of view and from the colonialist one – we have access to a mirror of the empire: the perverse and continual negotiation of identities and references between colonizers and colonized.Neste artigo são explorados alguns aspectos da ambiguidade das relações de poder do período colonial, cuja influência está ainda presente na construção pós-colonial da nação. O encontro colonial provocou um confronto entre as instituições políticas locais e o projecto colonial de hegemonia cultural e política. Os intermediários locais foram particularmente sensíveis a este jogo mútuo de dominação, integração e exclusão. Ao centrarmo-nos nas representações iconográficas de uma categoria desses intermediários – os régulos, chefes locais na Guiné-Bissau –, tanto sob o ponto de vista local como sob o ponto de vista colonialista, temos acesso a um espelho do império: a constante e perversa negociação de identidades e referências entre colonizadores e colonizados

Audiovisual Instruments in Ethnographic Research

In 1973, the most renowned researchers in Visual Anthropology met at the ninth International Congress of Anthropology and Sociology to discuss the role of film and photography in ethnographic research and to systematize the almost century-old experiences of bringing together description, ethnography, photography and film. Opening the meeting, Dean Margaret Mead enthusiastically defended the use of audiovisual instruments in research. Considering that Anthropology explicitly or implicitly accepted the responsibility of ‘preserving’ the descriptions of disappearing cultural habits, Mead prescribed the need for an ‘urgent anthropology’ that used photographs and films as supporting research means. She endorsed the view that the camera should be used as a research instrument as well as a means of disseminating a study, conjuring concerns with the film’s stylistic and aesthetic qualities while stressing its documental value. In her own terms, Anthropology should maximize the potentialities of the audiovisual media within its reach instead of being merely a ‘science of words’ (Mead 1995)

Introduction

Edward Said’s seminal text on Orientalism has opened, as it has often been stated, a complex agenda in the social sciences. In fact, Said unambiguously challenged all forms of essentialism by claiming that such settled categories as “Orient” and “Occident” did not correspond to any stable reality, but rather were an odd combination of the empirical and the imaginative (Said 1995: 331). Independent of the enormous controversy – both at the ideological and the theoretical level – that his thesis has raised, his assumption that each age and society recreates its “others” had a strong influence shaping the development of a conceptual apparatus in the colonial discourses of the social sciences and its critiques of colonial rule. The same can be suggested about postcolonial theor

Educação e autoridade : perspectiva histórica e reconsideração pedagógica

Dissertação de Mestrado em Educação - Área de História da Educação e da PedagogiaA problemática da autoridade é um tema que tem marcado os debates travados nas várias esferas das sociedades modernas contemporâneas, tendo subjacente o despontar de novos ideais, particularmente no que diz respeito ao desenvolvimento da personalidade humana, considerando os valores da igualdade e liberdade. Relativamente às relações educativas sobressai a nova representação da infância patente nas declarações dos direitos da criança, tendo culminado com a Convenção de 1989 que consagra à criança direitos-liberdade e direitos-protecção, contribuindo inequivocamente para a degradação de uma autoridade imperativa e rígida. Essa autoridade de carácter tradicional, assente numa lógica completamente desfasada dos valores democráticos, dá origem a práticas contraditórias e desajustadas. Com efeito, as dificuldades dos educadores/professores aumentam, estabelecendose o debate para o qual não tem sido fácil encontrar soluções consensuais. Assim, motivados pela configuração de crise que vem pôr em causa o desempenho docente, quisemos aprofundar e clarificar as causas subjacentes, por forma a investirmos na procura de respostas que permitam reequacionar as teorias e práticas pedagógicas, e bem assim, contribuir para a formação de educadores/professores, no intuito de salvaguardar o exercício da autoridade educativa numa perspectiva de adaptação à ética democrática. Neste sentido, recorremos à análise documental tendo por princípio a revisão e interpretação cuidada da literatura, de modo a tornar possível a averiguação de diferentes e relevantes perspectivas. Por conseguinte, a dissertação divide-se em duas partes, com dois capítulos cada. A primeira parte destina-se à realização de uma retrospectiva histórica, partindo da antiguidade clássica até à contemporaneidade, na intenção de contextualizarmos o objecto de estudo. A segunda parte destina-se à indagação dos contextos actuais, no sentido de identificarmos a crise instalada e as suas causas, preparando a descoberta de novos rumos. Depois de ponderadas as hipóteses levantadas, somos levados a depreender que as práticas educativas ainda estão muito ligadas a uma filosofia imperativa, em nada abonatória de uma autoridade bem exercida. Assim, concluímos ser necessário partir para uma reconceptualização da autoridade que enquadre a negociação e o consentimento como base da sua implementação, tendo sempre presente o respeito pela pessoa do outro, apesar de, inevitavelmente, permanecerem algumas questões em aberto.The issue of authority is a theme that has been present in the debates taken place in the various fields of contemporary societies, bearing in mind the appearance of new ideals, particularly concerning the development of human personality, considering the values of equality and liberty. With regards to the educative relationships, it is pointed out a new representation of childhood stated in the declaration of children’s rights, having reached its highest point, in the 1989 Convention, which gives children rights of freedom and rights of protection, contributing this way to the degradation of an imperative and strict authority. This traditional featured authority is based on an out of phase logic in relation to the democratic values, giving origin to contradicted and unsuitable practices. As a result, the difficulties of the educators/teachers rise, establishing the debate for which it has not been easy to find appropriate solutions. Thus, motivated by situations of crises, which questions the role of the docent, we want to deepen and clarify the causes which lead to this, so that we invest in the search for answers enabling to revise the pedagogic theories and practices, contributing this way to the formation of educators/teachers, aiming to preserve the practise of the educative authority, in adaptation to a democratic ethic view. In this sense, we have recoursed to documental analyses, having processed to a careful revision and interpretation of the bibliographical, capable of providing an investigation of different and relevant perspectives. Therefore, this dissertation is divided into two parts, with two chapters each. The first part aims at a historical retrospective, beginning in the classical ancient times to contemporariness, so that the objective of the study is contextualized. The second part is designed to questioning the actual contexts, so that the installed crisis and its causes, are identified, enabling the discovery of new directions. After balancing the hypothesis, we are led to conclude that the educative practises are still linked to an imperative philosophy, which accounts for an ill practise of authority. In conclusion, we believe it is necessary to conceptualise the authority which combines negotiation and consent as a bases of its implementation, always bearing in mind the respect for others, although, inevitably there will always remain some questionable issues

Digital Startups Accelerators: Characteristics and Evolution Trends

In a period where economies face challenges on a global scale, entrepreneurship is an alternative and viable option for many people. Due to the considerable impact it has on the economic development of a region, many authors have studied this subject throughout the years, so the literature available is quite rich and complete. Entrepreneurial ecosystems include numerous entities that interact with each other in unique symbiosis relationships and these entities may be startups, universities, the government, investors and organizations that provide support to the startups in their development stages, such as accelerators, incubators and co-working spaces. However, some of these entities, especially the startup accelerators, are still very recent, since the first one was only launched in 2005. For that reason, there still is not an in-depth study on this subject and there are not many rigorous conclusions with regards to the nature and impact of these organizations, that are believed to play a very important role in the development of startups. Therefore, this dissertation is motived by that lack of rigorous knowledge on the subject of accelerators. The development of a research work of this kind may be a valuable contribution for the current knowledge on the subject, as well as for future research. The objective of this dissertation is to analyse the actual and future trends of accelerators, considering a worldwide scale, with a particular focus on their business models, acceleration programs, strategies, challenges and priorities for the future. This thesis is based on an in-depth literature review, which includes the most relevant concepts about entrepreneurship and accelerators. Following the literature review, there is an empirical study that is based on an online survey that was carried out amongst accelerators, which benefits from its strong statistical component. Moreover, there are Case Studies based on some organizations’ business models, that are relevant for the analysis. Throughout this research work, we concluded that accelerators are a worldwide phenomenon, due to the impact they have both in the development of the startups, as well as in the economic development of the region they operate in. Moreover, these organizations have different business models and, according to their nature and characteristics, they have distinct ways of facing the challenges and priorities for the future

Takuo Iwata (Ed.). New Asian Approaches to Africa: Rivalries and Collaborations. Delaware: Vernon Press. 2020. 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-62273-809-0

New Asian Approaches to Africa é uma obra que se impunha para o conhecimento das relações preferenciais entre diferentes países asiáticos e o continente africano. Organizado por Takuo Iwata, professor de Relações Internacionais no College of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University no Japão, o livro reúne as comunicações ao seminário homónimo realizado na Universidade de Quioto, Japão, em novembro de 2018 e analisa as relações com África dos países asiáticos com programas de parceria e..