Resumo

How do social movements and the government deal with a violent colonial past? How can the law and the legal system approach the memories of slavery, racism and colonial plunder without depoliticizing it? How can colonized people seek justice and reparation for the political violence executed by colonialism within the legal system of the colonizers and without going through a process of decolonization? These questions, among others, will shape the discussion throughout the seminar.

This seminar marks the conclusion of the first year of postdoctoral research under the support of the FCT. This postdoctoral research studies the role of law in the mobilizations for memory, restoration, and recognition of historical injuries and violent political legacies caused by colonialism in Puerto Rico (PR) and of slavery and racism in the State members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Two specific sociopolitical mobilizations are the focus of this research: the Puerto Rican Commission for Truth and Justices (PCTJ) and CARICOM’s requests for reparation and restitution for the socioeconomic and political harm caused by years of slavery. This research addresses the following three objectives: 1) to expose how the effects of colonial violence are interpreted; 2) to identify who are the main actors and what are the claims arising from these two Caribbean mobilizations; 3) to analyze the uses of law implemented by these mobilizations and the legal and political positions assumed by the European states. In this vein, the research proposes a sociolegal analysis of the legal mobilizations in postcolonial Caribbean countries.

However, this postdoctoral research emphasizes the comparative analyses of both cases. For the purpose of this seminar, I will focus on the CARICOM mobilization. I will particularly expose the structure of the CARICOM Reparation Commission, the latest development of the lawsuit presented by CARICOM against European States, and their demands for reparation. This overview of the CARICOM mobilization for reparation and justice will allow us to establish a dialogue about the role of postcolonial states in the process of memorialization of a violent colonial past and about the singularities of Caribbean states.


Nota biográfica

José Atiles has a PhD in sociology of law from the University of Coimbra (2014) and currently he is an FCT Postdoctoral Researcher at CES. His areas of research are colonialism, sociology and philosophy of law, political violence and legal mobilizations.

Atividade no âmbito do Núcleo de Estudos sobre Democracia, Cidadania e Direito (DECIDe)