Open lecture with Carlos Mariano Manuel

The open lecture “The modern effects of the Berlin Conference on 19th century Africa on the post-colonial states of Central and Southern Africa” will be held on November 5, at 2 pm, in the Auditorium of Building 16 on the Gualtar campus. Carlos Mariano Manuel will deliver the session.

After the foundation in 1871 of the first German Empire under the impulse of Chancellor Otto von Bismark and Emperor William I, this state tried to establish a settlement in Africa. It created the German West Africa (Deutsch – Westafrika), today’s post-colonial states of Togo and Cameroon; the German East Africa (Deutsch – Ostafrika), today’s Tanganyika, Rwanda and Burundi and finally the South West Africa (Suedwest – AfriKa), today’s Namibia. The remaining current states in Central and Southern Africa were conceded to France, Belgium, Portugal and England, in bilateral negotiation processes between them, with no participation of native peoples or consideration of their identity realities and aspirations. This process is the foundation of the modern post-colonial multi-people states and is reflected in the contemporary political reality in Africa. This Open Class will revisit the Berlin Conference on Africa and its current effects in the central and southern regions of the cradle of humankind.

Carlos Mariano Manuel is a Full Professor of Pathology, History Researcher and the author of the História Geral de Angola (General History of Angola; 2021 edition, three volumes and 2300 pages). Being born at the epicentre of the region in Angola, where Portuguese historiography identifies the beginning of the overseas conflict and his subsequent practice in Africa and Europe of the Hippocratic practice and science led him to develop an interest in the History of Angola and Contemporary General History. He witnessed the outbreak of the 1961 general insurrection in his hometown in Northern Angola, events that occurred between 1983-1986 in the central highlands of Angola as part of the post-independence fratricidal conflict and the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9 1989. This event was the epilogue of the Cold War period and the prologue of a new general political order, especially in the African continent. Carlos Mariano Manuel studied Modern and Contemporary History as a free student at Humboldt University between 1992 and 1994. He held conferences and published papers on the History of Angola in Angola and Portugal, which ultimately produced the work mentioned earlier.

The open class is organised by the PhD in Cultural Studies, in association with the Permanent Seminar on Post-Colonial Studies and the Permanent Seminar on Communication and Diversity.

[Posted: 28-10-2021]