Decolonizing Europe
Ethnographies of National and Transnational Projects
Published on 1. November 2025
Book
Hardback
236 pages
978-1-83695-248-0 (ISBN)
Description
Revived by the global resonance of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, this book adds to the current discussion on the idea of decolonizing Europe. Drawing inspiration from the study of colonialism, postcolonialism and the imperative to decolonize knowledge and practice, the editors bring together a group of scholars approaching these issues through ethnographic inquiry. The volume explores how race, colonial legacies and structural inequality are addressed across diverse European contexts - north, central, eastern and southern - as well as in their entanglements with regions beyond Europe. It offers critical, grounded insights into the possibilities and challenges of decolonial thinking today.
Reviews / Votes
"This is a very important contribution for those dedicated to decolonial studies... one of the highlights of the book is the diversity of experiences and context examined by researchers of various nationalities and academic, institutional and professional backgrounds." * Fatima Cecchetto, National School of Public Health of the Oswaldo Cruz FoundationMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Library binding
Illustrations
20 Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
507 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-83695-248-0 (9781836952480)
DOI
10.3167/9781836952480
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Patricia Ferraz de Matos is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon. She is Associate Editor of Anthropological Journal of European Cultures (2020-2026), convener of the Europeanist Network of the EASA (2020-2026), deputy director of the journal Analise Social (2021-2026) and correspondent member, in Portugal, of the History of Anthropology Network of EASA since 2019. She is the author of The Colours of the Empire (Berghahn Books, 2013) and Anthropology, Nationalism and Colonialism (Berghahn Books, 2023).
Content
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
Foreword: Ending Colonial Complicities: Europe and the Intersectional Struggles for Racial Justice
Annalisa Frisina
Introduction: Decolonizing Europe: Ethnographies of National and Transnational Projects
Patricia Ferraz de Matos and Livio Sansone
Chapter 1. Decolonizing Europe and the Problem of Neonationalism
Jordan Kiper and Chadra Pittman
Chapter 2. The Measure of Time: Repurposing the Archives, Repatriating Human Remains
Pegi Vail
Chapter 3. People of African Descent and Antiracist Mobilization in Post-Imperial Portugal
Bruno Sena Martins
Chapter 4. Decolonizing Education [in Italy and Portugal] through Arts: Pass the Mic!
Francesca De Luca and Anna Serlenga
Chapter 5. On (De)Colonial Education, Anthropological Knowledge and 'Heritage Digestion': Insights on the History of Anthropology in Portugal
Carmeliza Rosario and Ema Pires
Chapter 6. The Kurdish Struggle as an Anticolonial Dynamo: From Nationalist Struggle to Militant Internationalism
Jose Vicente Mertz
Chapter 7. Rethinking Conflicts: The Cold War Museum in Zemaitija National Park
Vida Savoniakaite
Chapter 8. Debunking the Colonial Narrative in Belgium: Public Space Decolonization in Brussels and Cultural Objects Restitution to Central African Countries
Axel Mudahemuka Gossiaux
Epilogue: The Future of the Decolonial: Contradictory Tendencies in Europe
Patricia Ferraz de Matos and Livio Sansone
Index
Acknowledgments
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
Foreword: Ending Colonial Complicities: Europe and the Intersectional Struggles for Racial Justice
Annalisa Frisina
Introduction: Decolonizing Europe: Ethnographies of National and Transnational Projects
Patricia Ferraz de Matos and Livio Sansone
Chapter 1. Decolonizing Europe and the Problem of Neonationalism
Jordan Kiper and Chadra Pittman
Chapter 2. The Measure of Time: Repurposing the Archives, Repatriating Human Remains
Pegi Vail
Chapter 3. People of African Descent and Antiracist Mobilization in Post-Imperial Portugal
Bruno Sena Martins
Chapter 4. Decolonizing Education [in Italy and Portugal] through Arts: Pass the Mic!
Francesca De Luca and Anna Serlenga
Chapter 5. On (De)Colonial Education, Anthropological Knowledge and 'Heritage Digestion': Insights on the History of Anthropology in Portugal
Carmeliza Rosario and Ema Pires
Chapter 6. The Kurdish Struggle as an Anticolonial Dynamo: From Nationalist Struggle to Militant Internationalism
Jose Vicente Mertz
Chapter 7. Rethinking Conflicts: The Cold War Museum in Zemaitija National Park
Vida Savoniakaite
Chapter 8. Debunking the Colonial Narrative in Belgium: Public Space Decolonization in Brussels and Cultural Objects Restitution to Central African Countries
Axel Mudahemuka Gossiaux
Epilogue: The Future of the Decolonial: Contradictory Tendencies in Europe
Patricia Ferraz de Matos and Livio Sansone
Index