DIALOGUES AND VOYAGES – ASIAN COMMUNITIES IN PORTUGAL 

24 April

DIALOGUES AND VOYAGES – ASIAN COMMUNITIES IN PORTUGAL

Conference cycle

18.00 to 20.00

Floor 4

Free Entry

Coordinator: Jorge Macaísta Malheiros, Centre of Geographic Studies, Faculty of Letters, University of Lisbon

“Prayers on Friday” – Muslim communities of Asian origin in Portugal

In Europe, the “Islamic question” has emerged greatly to the fore in recent times reflecting fears and even xenophobic attitudes from the majority populations in addition to fostering debate on cultural differences and to what extent should laicism and citizenship rights be defined and practiced.

Irrespective of the estimated presence of between 30,000 and 40,000 Muslims in Portugal, with half or over being of Asian origin, the “Islamic question” seems to be all but invisible in Portuguese society. This is one issue that this debate seeks to approach among others such as whether or not Muslim communities experience religious discrimination, progress in levels of interaction between these and other religious-cultural groups present in Portugal and any eventual peculiarities to a “Portuguese Islam”.

8 May

18.00-20.00

Floor 4

Free Entry

“Diasporas and voyages – between Portugal, Africa and Asia” – the transcontinental commute of Asia communities

Within the framework of the growing economic and political relevance of Asia, with India and China leading the way, European states and their peoples are taking a renewed look of interest at these lands. Within the scope of this process, immigrants emerge as effective interlocutors of great potential importance, especially where they are involved in the transnational commuting so frequently common to economic exchanges (trading, remittances, etc.).

This session seeks to explore current trends and means of Asian immigration to Portugal in particular and Europe in general as well as the transnational practices of these immigrant communities with discussion as to the way they maintain ties with their points of departure. An additional objective relates to the roles that immigrants may play as mediators within the new relational framework that is intended to emerge between Asia and Portugal.

15 May

18.00-20.00

Floor 4

Free Entry

“Chinese stores and other businesses” – Asian entrepreneurial contributions towards urban economic dynamism

Throughout recent decades, there has been growth in the number of Asian business establishments in Portugal. Within this framework, the issue of “Chinese stores” and Chinatowns has emerged and even proven the object of controversy in various European cities and including Lisbon.

Correspondingly, should Asian business outlets be concentrated within specific neighbourhoods? Are there appropriate and inappropriate locations for stores run by citizens of Asian origin? Do Asian traders, specifically the Chinese, have access to benefits to the detriment of local traders whether in fiscal terms or in access to credit? Or is this idea the product of prejudice? Similarly, should this prove prejudice, what is the underlying intention? And what kind of contribution do such establishments make in terms of employment, productivity and fiscal revenue?

These are some of the questions that are to be addressed in a debate held against the backdrop of the level of significance these Asian business establishments hold for urban economic dynamism within their host cities.

29 May

18.00-20.00

Floor 4

Free Entry

“Asian and Portuguese, Portuguese and Asian: histories and stories” – migrations, contacts and reciprocal influences from a temporal perspective

This debate closes the cycle launched in March and hence places the history of relations between Portugal and Asia and the Asian presence in Portugal at the centre of discussion. A circular perspective is adopted in which the past and the present are encountered in order to highlight the historical depth of a dialogue made up of meetings and re-meetings, tensions and shared interests.

In this case, participants are requested to briefly present how, over the course of history, Asian immigrants have participated in the relational process of contacts involving Portugal and Asia. This will serve to structure the debate around the meaning of these historical processes in the interchange of knowledge and in the approximation or withdrawal of these peoples. Colonialism, cultural contact, reciprocal knowledge, migratory waves are just some of the factors under scrutiny in this final session.