Migrant populations have been consistently more vulnerable than others, with their vulnerability being exacerbated in crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic. In the meantime, in their effort to ... Show moreMigrant populations have been consistently more vulnerable than others, with their vulnerability being exacerbated in crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic. In the meantime, in their effort to “flatten the curve,” governments have been adopting policies that have significantly impacted migration in various ways. The effect of these policies has found migrants suffering disproportionately from the social and economic consequences of the pandemic crisis. Mobility restrictions have stranded them in the host countries, often without decent housing conditions, exacerbating xenophobic and discriminatory treatment of migrants. The study focuses on the case of Portugal and, more specifically, aims to provide a contextual feature of historical discussions of migration in Portugal and explore the perceptions and branding of migration policies in a crisis environment during the Covid-19 pandemic through the framing lens. Using empirical evidence from a frame analysis of parliamentary debates, the article investigates how immigration policies are branded and framed within Portugal, while it also evaluates the role of branding in migration policy-making, particularly in crisis scenarios. Overall, the article underscores the importance of branding in shaping migration policies, emphasising its significance in policy making. Show less
A Contractor Empire looks at government contracting in Portugal and its overseas empire during the so called Iberian ‘Union of the Crowns’ (1580-1640). It places 17th century Portugal at the centre... Show moreA Contractor Empire looks at government contracting in Portugal and its overseas empire during the so called Iberian ‘Union of the Crowns’ (1580-1640). It places 17th century Portugal at the centre of the latest historiographic debates on the interplay between business oriented groups and state formation during the early modern period. This dissertation clarifies why and to what extent the Portuguese Crown underwrote government contracts with business firms to handle tasks of public utility. On the other hand, it looks at the ethos and praxis of what was simultaneously an effective financial and administrative tool (for the state) and a compelling economic, social and political investment (for private businessmen).I argue that a major distinctive feature of the Portuguese contractor state was the multitude of public-private partnerships pertaining to the overseas offshoots. It is also emphasized how contracts did not always involve military logistics, as the secondary literature assumes. Among these other tasks were tax-farming and the outsourcing of royal monopolies over colonial commodities. In addition to considering the needs of the Crown and the terms and conditions of various public contracts, public-private partnerships are also analysed from the vantage point of their recipients. Light is shed on how entrepreneurs and partnerships met their obligations to the state and secured a compelling return on their investment, but also on the reasons why they took part in these potentially lucrative but equally risky endeavours. Show less
This dissertation focused on the prolific early European trade and consumption of three Asian manufactured goods: Chinese silk and porcelain, and Japanese lacquer in the sixteenth and early... Show moreThis dissertation focused on the prolific early European trade and consumption of three Asian manufactured goods: Chinese silk and porcelain, and Japanese lacquer in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, and has shown how the material cultures of late Ming China and Momoyama/early Edo Japan became inextricably linked with the West. Multiple sources provided new and unexpected documentary and material evidence of this trade by the Iberian Kingdoms of Portugal and Spain, and the trading companies formed in the Northern Netherlands/Dutch Republic and England. They also informed us about the commercial networks through which these Asian goods circulated, and the way in which they were acquired, used and appreciated in the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and English societies in Western Europe, and in the multi-ethnic societies of the colonies in the New World. Some new finds relate to the use of porcelain in Western Europe in the sixteenth century, the terminology employed in northwestern Europe to refer to Kraak porcelain, and the Japanese lacquer objects made in European shapes for the Dutch and English trading companies earlier than in Chinese porcelain. This study provides a better understanding of the intercultural exchanges that occurred between the East and West at the time. Show less
Rodrigues, A.M.; Gouveia, N.; Costa, L.P. da; Eusebio, M.; Ramiro, S.; Machado, P.; ... ; EpiReumaPt Study Grp 2015
The referendum is one of the most studied and practiced institutions of semi-direct democracy around the world, in several latitudes and historical times, in different systems and political regimes... Show moreThe referendum is one of the most studied and practiced institutions of semi-direct democracy around the world, in several latitudes and historical times, in different systems and political regimes, at international, national, regional or local levels, with different legal frameworks and with various political consequences. However, Portugal, whose constitutional experience begins in 1820 with the liberal revolution, had its first democratic referendum only in 1998. This study try to conceptually characterize the referendum, in order to establish its fundamental typologies regarding the most relevant experiences in this field and to situate the case for and against the referendum as an expression of semi-direct democracy in the political and philosophical debate of different historical moments. In the next chapters, entirely dedicated to the Portuguese case, we shall present the historical evolution of the nation al and local referendum in the constitutional and political life in Portugal since 1820. An added emphasis will be given to the referendum experience of the Portuguese democracy born in 1974, particular attention being payed to the political debate about the formal introduction of the referendum in the 1976 Constitution and to the concrete experience of referendums proposed and held since then. Show less
