African women's trajectories and the Casa dos Estudantes do Império

This article compares the trajectories of different women who crossed the Casa dos Estudantes do Imperio (CEI), a formal institution created in Lisbon by students from the colonies with the support of the Portuguese dictatorial regime in 1944, that became a platform for anti-colonialism. Due to the role played by the CEI in the political and social paths of the leaders of African national liberation movements, historiography has privileged masculine accounts. In contrast, the roles and lives of women linked to the CEI remain unexplored or approached from a vision of methodological nationalism, with few exceptions. Addressing these trajectories from a transnational and Afro-Iberian lens and through the scrutiny of several sources allows us to reflect on a diversity of gender, race, class, and political ideology. The final aim is to illuminate some aspects of the Afro-Iberian mosaic from a gendered and postcolonial perspective.

Automated summary

This article compares the trajectories of different women who were members of the Casa dos Estudantes do Imperio (CEI), a formal institution created by Portuguese colonial students in Lisbon in 1944 and played a significant role in the political and social paths of African national liberation movement leaders. However, historical research has mainly focused on male narratives, leaving the roles and lives of women in relation to CEI largely unexplored. By approaching these trajectories from a transnational and Afro-Iberian perspective and analyzing multiple sources, this article aims to reflect on the diversity of gender, race, class, and political ideology.