Biography

André Caiado is Junior Researcher at the Centre for Social Studies and PhD candidate in Heritages of Portuguese Influence at the University of Coimbra. His doctoral thesis focused on the monumentalization and musealization of the Portuguese Colonial War (thesis submitted, awaiting defense). Currently, he works in the project 'CO3 - COntinuous COnstruction of resilient social COntracts through societal transformation', funded by the program Horizon Europe, where he analyses the impact and consequences of colonialism, authoritarianism and imperialism on European social contracts, with a focus on the Portuguese experiences, expectations and emotions mobilised in the processes of (re)constituting more sustainable and democratic societies. He studies the interaction between the end of the New State and the colonial empire, the transition to democracy and the migratory movements generated by decolonization, including the challenges of integration into Portuguese society faced by former settlers ("returnees"), colonized populations and migrants from former colonies. He worked as Research Administrator between 2009 and 2022. He was member of the project 'CROME - Crossed Memories, Politics of Silence: The Colonial-Liberation Wars in Postcolonial Times', funded by the European Research Council. He holds a Master's degree in International Economics and Management from the University of Porto and a graduation in Political Science and International Relations from the New University of Lisbon. Current research interests focus on the history and memorialization of the Portuguese Colonial War/Liberation Struggles, war memory studies, late Portuguese colonialism, processes of (de)monumentalisation and musealisation, and the dynamics of integration and democratic participation within the evolving social contract.