{"id":1008238,"date":"2024-01-25T20:30:44","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T20:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/?p=1008238"},"modified":"2025-03-08T10:37:35","modified_gmt":"2025-03-08T10:37:35","slug":"decolonising-populism-democratising-responsibility-imperial-rhetoric-critical-uses-of-the-past-and-the-construction-of-a-community-of-implicated-subjects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/en\/decolonising-populism-democratising-responsibility-imperial-rhetoric-critical-uses-of-the-past-and-the-construction-of-a-community-of-implicated-subjects\/","title":{"rendered":"Decolonising populism? Democratising responsibility? Imperial rhetoric, critical uses of the past, and the construction of a community of implicated subjects"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"impressao\"  data-column-margin=\"default\" data-midnight=\"dark\"  class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row\"  style=\"padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; \"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\" data-bg-animation=\"none\" data-bg-overlay=\"false\"><div class=\"inner-wrap\"><div class=\"row-bg viewport-desktop\"  style=\"\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12 col span_12 dark left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone\"  data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"fws_6a1582dceb99c\" data-midnight=\"\" data-column-margin=\"default\" class=\"wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_row inner_row\"  style=\"\"><div class=\"row-bg-wrap\"> <div class=\"row-bg\" ><\/div> <\/div><div class=\"row_col_wrap_12_inner col span_12  left\">\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-10 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col child_column no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone\"   data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\" >\n\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t<p><strong>Decolonising populism? Democratising responsibility? Imperial rhetoric, critical uses of the past, and the construction of a community of implicated subjects<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><b>Speaker:<br \/>\n<\/b>Jo\u00e3o Figueiredo<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chair:<\/strong><br \/>\nSara Ara\u00fajo<\/p>\n<p>Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of University of Coimbra<\/p>\n<p>January, 25 2024, 16h30 (GMT Lisbon\/London)<\/p>\n<p>One striking similarity between contemporary right-wing discourses apologetic of the Portuguese Empire and emancipatory left-wing decolonial interventions is their focus on past elites. While right-wing populists mythologise \u2018dead white European males\u2019 to chastise present leaders, leftwing populists metonymically equate them with contemporary nations to establish the moral obligation of their fellow citizens to pay for historical reparations and compensation. I argue that both rhetorical uses of the past reiterate a \u2018great man\u2019 theory of history, foreclose the construction of a moral community of implicated subjects, as defined by Michael Rothberg, and hamper affirmative action. The way forward, I suggest, might not be to decolonise populism, as George Ciccariello-Maher proposed, but to democratise responsibility for remedying the lingering effects of the colonial past. This implies discarding the elitist rhetoric of the New State and embracing civic storytelling to foreground the radical heterogeneity of the half-willing subjects and subaltern groups that participated in the Portuguese overseas expansion.<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"divider-wrap\" data-alignment=\"default\"><div style=\"margin-top: 12.5px; width: 20%px; height: 1px; margin-bottom: 12.5px;\" data-width=\"20%\" data-animate=\"\" data-animation-delay=\"\" data-color=\"extra-color-gradient-1\" class=\"divider-small-border\"><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element\" >\n\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t<section id=\"h.31347c2f51fa011e_0\" class=\"yaqOZd LB7kq cJgDec nyKByd O13XJf\">\n<div class=\"mYVXT\">\n<div class=\"LS81yb VICjCf j5pSsc db35Fc\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"hJDwNd-AhqUyc-uQSCkd Ft7HRd-AhqUyc-uQSCkd purZT-AhqUyc-II5mzb ZcASvf-AhqUyc-II5mzb pSzOP-AhqUyc-qWD73c Ktthjf-AhqUyc-qWD73c JNdkSc SQVYQc\">\n<div class=\"JNdkSc-SmKAyb LkDMRd\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<div class=\"oKdM2c ZZyype Kzv0Me\">\n<div id=\"h.31347c2f51fa011e_3\" class=\"hJDwNd-AhqUyc-uQSCkd Ft7HRd-AhqUyc-uQSCkd jXK9ad D2fZ2 zu5uec OjCsFc dmUFtb wHaque g5GTcb\">\n<div class=\"jXK9ad-SmKAyb\">\n<div class=\"tyJCtd mGzaTb Depvyb baZpAe lkHyyc\">\n<p><strong>Bio notes<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"main-content\" class=\"col-sm-12 col-lg-9\">\n<div id=\"ces-content\" class=\"content-wrapper\">\n<div id=\"main-content\" class=\"col-sm-12 col-lg-9\">\n<div id=\"ces-content\" class=\"content-wrapper\">\n<div id=\"main-content\" class=\"col-sm-12 col-lg-9\">\n<div id=\"ces-content\" class=\"content-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"biographicalNote\">Jo\u00e3o Figueiredo, PhD in High History Studies (Empire, politics, and post-colonialism) and in Human Rights, both at the University of Coimbra. His work focuses on Portuguese colonialism, and he has collaborated with the Educational Service of the Douro Museum. As an anti-racist activist, he has collaborated with Djass &#8211; Association of Afro-descendants and SOS Racism. He has written several book chapters and peer-reviewed articles for several journals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-sm-12 col-lg-3\">\n<p class=\"highlights-title\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-sm-12 col-lg-3\">\n<p class=\"highlights-title\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"divider-wrap\" data-alignment=\"default\"><div style=\"margin-top: 12.5px; width: 20%px; height: 1px; margin-bottom: 12.5px;\" data-width=\"20%\" data-animate=\"\" data-animation-delay=\"\" data-color=\"extra-color-gradient-1\" class=\"divider-small-border\"><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t<div  class=\"vc_col-sm-2 wpb_column column_container vc_column_container col child_column no-extra-padding inherit_tablet inherit_phone\"   data-padding-pos=\"all\" data-has-bg-color=\"false\" data-bg-color=\"\" data-bg-opacity=\"1\" data-animation=\"\" data-delay=\"0\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"vc_column-inner\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<div class='printomatic pom-small-black' id='id3587'  data-print_target='div#impressao, .impressao, h1.entry-title'><\/div><div class=\"img-with-aniamtion-wrap  custom-size\" data-max-width=\"100%\" data-max-width-mobile=\"default\" data-shadow=\"none\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" >\n      <div class=\"inner\">\n        <div class=\"hover-wrap\"> \n          <div class=\"hover-wrap-inner\">\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Background-2-1024x724.jpg\" class=\"pp\" title=\"\">\n              <img class=\"img-with-animation skip-lazy\" data-delay=\"0\" height=\"724\" width=\"1024\" data-animation=\"fade-in\" src=\"https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Background-2-1024x724.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Background-2-1024x724.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Background-2-300x212.jpg 300w, https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Background-2-768x543.jpg 768w, https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Background-2-1536x1086.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Background-2-2048x1448.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Background-2-18x12.jpg 18w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\n            <\/a>\n          <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n      <\/div><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/6c-QXYXAVzc?si=ht2qxLsdr3HHOhYV\" data-color-override=\"false\" data-style=\"default\" data-parent-hover=\"\" data-font-style=\"p\" data-color=\"default-accent-color\" class=\"nectar-button large nectar_video_lightbox pp\"><span>Video<\/span><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Decolonising populism? Democratising responsibility? Imperial rhetoric, critical uses of the past, and the construction of a community of implicated subjects Speaker: Jo\u00e3o Figueiredo Chair: Sara Ara\u00fajo Faculty of Psychology and...","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1008213,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[79],"tags":[85],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.13 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Decolonising populism? Democratising responsibility? Imperial rhetoric, critical uses of the past, and the construction of a community of implicated subjects - UNPOP - UNpacking POPulism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One striking similarity between contemporary right-wing discourses apologetic of the Portuguese Empire and emancipatory left-wing decolonial interventions is their focus on past elites. While right-wing populists mythologise \u2018dead white European males\u2019 to chastise present leaders, leftwing populists metonymically equate them with contemporary nations to establish the moral obligation of their fellow citizens to pay for historical reparations and compensation. I argue that both rhetorical uses of the past reiterate a \u2018great man\u2019 theory of history, foreclose the construction of a moral community of implicated subjects, as defined by Michael Rothberg, and hamper affirmative action. The way forward, I suggest, might not be to decolonise populism, as George Ciccariello-Maher proposed, but to democratise responsibility for remedying the lingering effects of the colonial past. This implies discarding the elitist rhetoric of the New State and embracing civic storytelling to foreground the radical heterogeneity of the half-willing subjects and subaltern groups that participated in the Portuguese overseas expansion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/en\/decolonising-populism-democratising-responsibility-imperial-rhetoric-critical-uses-of-the-past-and-the-construction-of-a-community-of-implicated-subjects\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Decolonising populism? Democratising responsibility? 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The way forward, I suggest, might not be to decolonise populism, as George Ciccariello-Maher proposed, but to democratise responsibility for remedying the lingering effects of the colonial past. 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Democratising responsibility? Imperial rhetoric, critical uses of the past, and the construction of a community of implicated subjects - UNPOP - UNpacking POPulism","description":"One striking similarity between contemporary right-wing discourses apologetic of the Portuguese Empire and emancipatory left-wing decolonial interventions is their focus on past elites. While right-wing populists mythologise \u2018dead white European males\u2019 to chastise present leaders, leftwing populists metonymically equate them with contemporary nations to establish the moral obligation of their fellow citizens to pay for historical reparations and compensation. I argue that both rhetorical uses of the past reiterate a \u2018great man\u2019 theory of history, foreclose the construction of a moral community of implicated subjects, as defined by Michael Rothberg, and hamper affirmative action. 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Imperial rhetoric, critical uses of the past, and the construction of a community of implicated subjects","datePublished":"2024-01-25T20:30:44+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-08T10:37:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/decolonising-populism-democratising-responsibility-imperial-rhetoric-critical-uses-of-the-past-and-the-construction-of-a-community-of-implicated-subjects\/"},"wordCount":738,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/#organization"},"keywords":["Semin\u00e1rio"],"articleSection":["Eventos"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/decolonising-populism-democratising-responsibility-imperial-rhetoric-critical-uses-of-the-past-and-the-construction-of-a-community-of-implicated-subjects\/","url":"https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/decolonising-populism-democratising-responsibility-imperial-rhetoric-critical-uses-of-the-past-and-the-construction-of-a-community-of-implicated-subjects\/","name":"Decolonising populism? Democratising responsibility? Imperial rhetoric, critical uses of the past, and the construction of a community of implicated subjects - UNPOP - UNpacking POPulism","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-01-25T20:30:44+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-08T10:37:35+00:00","description":"One striking similarity between contemporary right-wing discourses apologetic of the Portuguese Empire and emancipatory left-wing decolonial interventions is their focus on past elites. While right-wing populists mythologise \u2018dead white European males\u2019 to chastise present leaders, leftwing populists metonymically equate them with contemporary nations to establish the moral obligation of their fellow citizens to pay for historical reparations and compensation. I argue that both rhetorical uses of the past reiterate a \u2018great man\u2019 theory of history, foreclose the construction of a moral community of implicated subjects, as defined by Michael Rothberg, and hamper affirmative action. The way forward, I suggest, might not be to decolonise populism, as George Ciccariello-Maher proposed, but to democratise responsibility for remedying the lingering effects of the colonial past. This implies discarding the elitist rhetoric of the New State and embracing civic storytelling to foreground the radical heterogeneity of the half-willing subjects and subaltern groups that participated in the Portuguese overseas expansion.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/decolonising-populism-democratising-responsibility-imperial-rhetoric-critical-uses-of-the-past-and-the-construction-of-a-community-of-implicated-subjects\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/decolonising-populism-democratising-responsibility-imperial-rhetoric-critical-uses-of-the-past-and-the-construction-of-a-community-of-implicated-subjects\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/decolonising-populism-democratising-responsibility-imperial-rhetoric-critical-uses-of-the-past-and-the-construction-of-a-community-of-implicated-subjects\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/unpop.ces.uc.pt\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Decolonising populism? 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