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Paper short abstract:

In this paper I will present the relevance, in the actual world, of the European African studies through a critical analysis of the Colonial School created in 1906 in Lisbon (Portugal) where research about Africa was produced for more than 60 years.

Paper long abstract:

The African studies are part of the research centers in European institutions where analytical and methodological renovation of the knowledge produced about Africa takes place. In this sense, a critical revision of the colonial sciences that dominated the production of knowledge about Africa since the end of the XIX century is necessary. In this paper, the Colonial School - created in 1906 in Lisbon and the first public institution to develop an area of African studies in Portugal - will be considered as a relevant experience to reflect critically upon the role of the European African studies in a multipolar world. The origin and transformations that took place within this institution will be considered briefly attempting to present the themes and elaborations developed by professors and students involved in the Portuguese African project. This historical view will enable to propose connections between the production of knowledge and the expansion of the political projects. In this way, it will reveal the possibilities for the European African studies to collaborate in an equalitarian and plural political construction for Africa.