Lusophone Journal of Cultural Studies Call for Papers : Colonialism and Public Space: Memories in Dispute – Deadline Extended

The Lusophone Journal of Cultural Studies has opened a call for papers for Vol. 13, No. 2, with the theme ‘Colonialism and Public Space: Memories in Dispute,’ until 29 May (deadline extended).

The editors for this issue are Pedro Menezes (CECS, University of Minho, Portugal), Alana Castro de Azevedo (CegeSoma/State Archives of Belgium, Belgium) & Sebastian Zuñiga (CES, University of Coimbra, Portugal).

European colonialism is often treated as a historical period, that is, a chapter with a beginning, middle, end, and clearly defined boundaries. However, a closer analysis of the phenomenon reveals that colonialism spreads outwards, before and after itself, with ramifications, echoes, and legacies that emerge after the supposed closure of this chapter. It is a body with an imprecise and changing silhouette that can still be seen today, coexisting with independence celebrations that commemorate the official end of this project (Mbembe, 2017).

It is clear that colonialism has consequences, which emerge belatedly, after the supposed disappearance of the episodes that gave rise to such results. But when we say that colonialism is among us — or are we among it, surrounded by it? — we are not referring only to these waves, but to their epicentre, the ground zero from which they reverberate. In other words: it is not only the consequences of colonialism that mark our days, but colonialism itself is here, now.

The public space of former European colonial powers and the territories they invaded is marked by a set of symbolic and material traces that refer to colonialism: monuments, statues, buildings, squares, streets, neighbourhoods and all sorts of urban facilities that, more than just referring to it, celebrate and affirm European colonial expansion and its legacies (Peralta & Domingos, 2023). Some of these traces were built during the colonial period and survived after the believed closure of this historical chapter, remaining in the public space not through inertia or forgetfulness, but through active and deliberate work to maintain and update these objects and the feats they extol. However, beyond these reminiscences, whose perpetuation to this day is anything but accidental, it is possible to draw up an extensive inventory of honours to colonialism erected after the official end of this event, when we thought that the condemnation of this undertaking had been agreed and pacified (Guardião et al., 2022; Knudsen et al., 2021/2022).

However, while these petrified reverences are always visible, the same cannot be said about the violence and exploitation inherent in the European colonial project. To put it explicitly: the material and symbolic traces persist, but the reference to colonialism does not, or not necessarily. In these cases, rather than isolated figures cut out against the landscape, these colonial totems become the landscape itself: hidden because they are explicit, camouflaged in their omnipresence.

In recent years, however, direct actions against colonial traces have become increasingly frequent. There are numerous reports of statues being torn down or defaced, demands for changes in urban toponymy, petitions calling for the installation of information plaques, and campaigns aimed at creating anti- and counter-monuments. Driven by groups seeking to rescue memories that had previously been invisible in official narratives, such actions do not take place without encountering resistance. In response, voices are raised that present themselves as guardians of the values, myths, and ideas propagated by these symbols and that can be heard in the most diverse sectors of society: from public authorities, through formal associations, to clandestine far-right groups. What drives these antagonistic positions to clash is not just nostalgia or longing for the past, but a pragmatic interest in pressing 21st-century agendas, given that colonial memory—always in dispute—is strategically instrumentalised as a means of legitimising discourses on contemporary issues (Haraway, 2013; Hobsbawm & Ranger, 1983; Quijano, 2000), particularly with regard to migration and the rights of racialised people (Mbembe, 2017). In Weberian terms, there is a struggle for the monopoly of the legitimate definition of the meaning of colonialism and, far from being an end in itself, this confrontation is part of a whole formed by other confrontations fought over the definition of other concepts: to say what colonialism is is to say what migration is and, ultimately, to say what Europe is.

Objective of the Thematic Issue

This call for papers invites articles that discuss the relationship between colonialism, public space, and memory, highlighting how these debates and actions are part of the dynamics of power struggles between dominant and counter-hegemonic narratives. We seek analyses that consider the controversies and conflicts surrounding colonial traces in public space, as well as the responses formulated by public authorities and civil society in different national and political contexts. The aim is also to promote critical reflections on the ways in which material traces of the colonial past are mobilised and reinterpreted by different social actors, becoming platforms for the articulation of progressive and/or conservative discourses around contemporary issues.

Suggested Topics

We welcome theoretical and empirical works, both general and based on specific case studies, comparative studies and studies resulting from artistic interventions from different areas of the humanities, social sciences, arts and creative activities: communication, sociology, anthropology, political science, history, geography, cultural studies, philosophy, architecture, urbanism, heritage, artistic languages and related areas, exploring issues such as:

Artivism and colonial memory

Affinity and tension between activists, artists, civil society, academics and public authorities

Conflicts between official memory and alternative memories

Public space between hegemonic and counter-hegemonic memories

Policies for the management, listing and heritage designation of colonial public spaces and their controversies

Anti-colonial, post-colonial and decolonial theories, concepts and debates

Continuities and ruptures between anti-, post- and decolonial theories and more canonical theoretical traditions

References

Guardião, A., Jerónimo, M. B., & Peixoto, P. (Eds.). (2022). Colonial echoes: Histories, heritages and memories (R. Matos, Trans.). Tinta-da-China.

Haraway, D. (2013). Situated knowledges. The science question in feminism and the privilege of partial perspective. In M. Wyer, M. Barbercheck, D. Cookmeyer, & H. Ozturk (Eds.), Women, science and technology (3rd ed., pp. 455–472). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203427415

Hobsbawm, E., & Ranger, T. (Eds.). (1983). The invention of tradition. Cambridge University Press.

Knudsen, B. T., Oldfield, J. R., Buettner, E., & Zabunyan, E. (Eds.). (2022). Decolonising colonial heritage: New agendas, actors and practices in and beyond Europe. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003100102. (Original work published in 2021)

Mbembe, A. (2017). Critique of Black reason (L. Dubois, Trans.). Duke University Press.

Peralta, E., & Domingos, N. (Eds.). (2023). Legacies of the Portuguese colonial empire: Nationalism, citizenship and popular culture. Bloomsbury Academic.

Quijano, A. (2000). Coloniality of power, Eurocentrism, and Latin America. Nepantla: Views from South, 1(3), 533–580.

Submission period (full manuscript): 10 March to 29 May 2026.

LANGUAGE

Articles may be submitted in English or Portuguese. Articles selected for publication will be translated into Portuguese or English, respectively, and will be published in full in both languages.

EDITING AND SUBMISSION

The Lusophone Journal of Cultural Studies is an open-access academic journal that operates in accordance with the demanding standards of the peer review system and uses a double-blind review process. Each submitted work will be distributed to two reviewers who have been previously invited to evaluate it according to its academic quality, originality, and relevance to the objectives and scope of this edition of the journal.

Manuscripts should be submitted via the journal’s website (https://www.rlec.pt/). If you are accessing the Lusophone Journal of Cultural Studies for the first time, you must register in order to submit your article (register here).

The guide for authors can be found here.

For further information, please contact: rlec@ics.uminho.pt

[Posted:10-03-2026/ Updated: 15-05-2026]