This research group is new. Some researchers have already worked with these subjects but only in the last months have they begun a joint work. Social and Economic Development and Cooperation is a very general subject, studied by many researchers, political institutions and corporation centres. We concentrated our attention on some specific themes without avoiding some general themes.
In the research we appeal to the typical methodologies of university work (observation, bibliography, statistics and econometric methods, participation in networks of researchers, etc.) General themes: - Europe-Africa relations (diplomatic, economic and social relations).
- Rents and extroversion in African countries: concepts, data and quantified models.
- Critical study of "cooperation" and "development" concepts.
- Development indexes and their measurement.
Specific themes: - The Portuguese-speaking African societies and their integration in the ECOWAS (Economic Community Of West African States) and the SADC (Southern African Development Community).
- To know which are the possibilities of the Portuguese working and investing in Africa
- To monitor the Portuguese decentralised cooperation and to follow the activity of the Portuguese municipalities in Africa.
- Anthropology of the time, endogenous knowledge and development.
During the next three years the research of these subjects will be associated with the following programmed actions (with minimum quantified goals): - Continuation of the course "Cooperation and Development" in the Masters in African Studies and in the PhD Program.
- Supervision of Master theses (8)
- Supervision of PhD theses (3)
- Organisation of a Post-Graduated Program (270 hours) on "To know, to work and to invest in Africa" (2)
- To work with the Portuguese municipalities in the decentralised cooperation
- To organise conferences and seminars on the researched themes (12)
- Collaboration with the other CEAUP projects on local development
- To publish scientific articles (international journals with referees: 2; Africana Studia: 4; working papers: 15)
The organisation of an interdisciplinary international conference on "Society of the Knowledge, Endogenous Knowledge and Conceptions of Time in Africa" would be interesting but its realisation depends on the number of the CEAUP's initiatives and on the possibilities of financing. |
