UMD conference to explore global perspectives of Portugal’s Carnation Revolution
DARTMOUTH – As Portugal marks the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution that put an end to nearly five decades of dictatorship, the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture at UMass Dartmouth will bring together individuals from a variety of academic fields to discuss the multifaceted aspects of this seminal event throughout the Lusophone world.
On April 4 to 6, the center will host an international conference titled “The Carnation Revolution: Global Perspectives” in coordination with the university’s Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives.
“The Carnation Revolution brought about tremendous political and social change in Portugal. This conference is the start of a much longer conversation regarding the global impact of that historic day,” said Dr. Paula Noversa, the director for the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture.
The conference will explore the global cause and impact of the April 25, 1974 military coup that led to the overthrow of the Estado Novo regime, while reflecting scholarship on the metropole, the empire and the diaspora.
The program was organized by Dr. Noversa; Dr. Daniela Melo, a political scientist who teaches Social Sciences at Boston University; and Dr. Eric Morier-Genoud, a lecturer in African History at Queen’s University in Belfast and former UMass Dartmouth’s visiting Portuguese Studies professor.
The event will kick-off on Thursday, April 4 at 1 p.m. at UMass Dartmouth’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Fall River.
According to a press release, on the first day the conference will explore the impact the revolution had in the Lusophone diaspora as well as on Luso-American relations.
A panel discussion centered on “The Carnation Revolution: Reaction in the Diaspora” will look at how the revolution influenced Portuguese diasporic activism in New England and “revolutionary tremors” in Canada’s Portuguese community.
It will be followed by another panel discussion about the impact of the revolution in the African diaspora.
The last panel discussion of that day will be centered on Luso-American Relations and the Carnation Revolution.
On Friday, April 5, the conference will move to the New Bedford Whaling Museum to examine the various factors that led up to the revolution. Panel discussions will run from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The award-winning documentary ‘O Que Podem as Palavras’ by Luísa Marinho and Luisa Sequeira will be shown at 12:45 p.m.
Based on the 1972 book “Novas Cartas Portuguesas,” which was censored by the Estado Novo, the film features exclusive interviews with the book’s authors - who came to be known as the Três Marias - and archival footage from the time, reflecting the period of the April 25th Revolution.
"The Center is honored to facilitate the first-ever United States screening of the documentary film,” Dr. Noversa said. “Both directors will be in attendance to present the film and answer any questions that the audience may have regarding the creation of the documentary. Given that the directors had extensive access to the authors of Novas Cartas Portuguesas, this will be a fascinating film to view as well as an inciteful conversation."
On Saturday, April 6 the conference will return to UMass Dartmouth to be held in the Charlton College of Business.
At 10:30 a.m., a panel will consider the global ideological impact of the Carnation Revolution.
A new exhibit will open at the Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives at 12 p.m.
The conference will culminate with a roundtable featuring several community members who will share how they remember the 25th of April 1974.
The conference is free and open to the public but pre-registration is preferred. Those interested should send their name, affiliation (if any), and the dates of attendance to Robin Couto at rcouto@umassd.edu with the subject heading “CPSC CONFERENCE REGISTRATION.”
Conference’s full schedule:
Thursday, 4 April – Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
1:00 PM – 1:30 PM CIE lobby: coffee and registration
1:30 PM – 2 PM CIE, CR4A: Welcome Address
Dr. Paula C. G. Noversa, Director of the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture
2:00 PM – 3:15 PM Panel 1: The Carnation Revolution: Reaction in the Diaspora
Panelists:
-Paula Noversa, UMASSD, chair
-Daniela Melo, Boston University, “The Revolution Comes to the U.S.: Portuguese Diasporic Activism in New England”
-Gilberto Fernandes,York University (Toronto), “No More Yearning: Revolutionary Tremors in Canada’s Portuguese Community”
3:15 PM - 3:30 PM lobby, break
3:30 PM – 5:00 PM Panel 2: Black Carnation I: the Revolution in the African Diaspora
Panelists:
-Eric Morier-Genoud, Queen’s University, Belfast, chair
-Victor Barros, NOVA Universidade de Lisboa, “Cape Verdean Diaspora in Lisbon and the Carnation Revolution”
-Aurora Almada e Santos, NOVA Universidade de Lisboa, “The United Nations, the End of the Estado Novo”
-Iolanda Maria Alves Évora, ISEG, NOVA Universidade de Lisboa, “Telling our Stories, Challenging Narratives. The Carnation Revolution from the Perspective of People of African Descent”
5:00 PM – 5:15 PM lobby, break
5:15 – 6:45 Panel 3: Luso-American Relations and the Carnation Revolution
Panelists:
-Ambassador Sherman, moderator (tentative)
-Lily Havstad, Harvard University, “Lessons from the Carnation Revolution: Armed Resistance and Nonviolent Direct Action in Global Perspective”
-Christianna Leahy, McDaniel College, “International Entanglements in the Portuguese Revolution”
-Frédéric Heurtebize, Université Paris Nanterre, “US Labor and the Carnation Revolution”
-Miguel Moniz, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade de Lisboa, “Estado Novo Cultural Diplomacy and Political Influence Operations in the United States. A Context for Immigrant Community Responses to the 1974, 25 de Abril Revolution”
Friday, 5 April - New Bedford Whaling Museum
9:15 – 9:45 AM Jacobs Family Gallery (JFG): Coffee and registration
9:45 -10:00 AM Cook Memorial Theatre (CMT): Welcome,
Dr. Paula C. G. Noversa, Director of the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture
10:00 AM– 11:30 AM CMT: Panel 4: The Carnation Revolution through the Prism of Literature
Panelists:
-Valeria H. Monteagudo de Campos,SESI and Universidade de São Paulo, “Morte e Vida: Antitheses pré e pós Revolução dos Cravos na poesia de Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen”
-Ana Margarida Fonseca, ILCML Universidade de Porto, “Filhas da Revolução: a (in)visibilidade da Escrita Ficcional de Autoras Afrodescendentes”
-Conceição Brandão, ILCML Universidade de Porto, “Sacrifice, Freedom and Memory of the Carnation Revolution: Between The Day of the Prodigies and The Memorables of Lídia Jorge”
-Dora Gago, NOVA Universidade de Lisboa, “Voices and Silences of April in The Memorables by Lídia Jorge: Ernesto Salamida, “the invisible messenger”
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM Harbor View Gallery (HVG): Lunch
12:45 PM – 2:30 PM CMT: Film Screening “O Que Podem as Palavras” (2022, 77 minutes)
2:30 PM – 2:45 PM JFG: Break
2:45 PM – 4:15 PM CMT: Panel 5: The Carnation Revolution: Women & Gender
Panelists:
-Daniela Melo, Boston University, chair and presenter
-Patrícia Calca, ISCTE Lisbon, "Portuguese Women’s Legislative Behavior in the Democratic Era (post-1974)"
-Joana Matias, NOVA Universidade de Lisboa, “Pink Carnations: Notes on the Place of Gender and Sexuality in the History of the Revolution”
-Isabel Freire, Independent Scholar, “Was Sexuality the Elephant in the Room in the Aftermath of the Carnation Revolution”
4:15 PM – 4:30 PM JFG: Break
4:30 PM – 5:45 PM CMT: Panel 6: Black Carnation II: Africa’s Role in the Revolution
Panelists:
-Eric Morier-Genoud, Queen’s University, Belfast, “Mozambique and the Carnation Revolution”
-Marçal de Menezes Paredes, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, “Carnation Revolution and the Global Cold War Connections: a Southern Perspective"
-Jean-Miachael Mabeko-Tali, Howard University, “Angolan Armed Struggle in 1974-75: How the Metropolitan Struggles for Political Position Impacted an Already Complex Anticolonial War”
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM HVG: Cocktail hour and dinner
Saturday, 6 April - Charlton College of Business (CCB), University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
10:00 AM – 10:30 AM CCB Lobby: Coffee and registration
10:30 AM– 12 noon CCB, 149: Panel 7: The Carnation Revolution: Global Ideological Impact
Panelists:
-Warjio, Universitas Sumatera Utara (Medan, Indonesia), “The Impact of the Carnation Revolution For Indonesia”
-Madhu, Miranda House, University of Delhi, “Nationalism, Democracy and Identity: the Case of Goa”
-Reinaldo I. Lohn, Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (Brazil), Between Revolution and Transition: the Influence of the Portuguese Revolution on debates about the Brazilian political transition (1974-1979)
-Rui Graça Feijo, NOVA Universidade de Lisboa, “Wayfarers & Pathways: Public Sphere, Agency and Indeterminacy in the Portuguese Carnation Revolution”
12 PM – 1 PM Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives Exhibit
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Claire T. Carney Library, Grand Reading Room, lunch
2:15 PM – 5:00 PM CCB, 149: Roundtable Discussion: The Carnation Revolution: Community Voices
5:15 – 6:45 Panel 3: Luso-American Relations and the Carnation Revolution
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: UMD conference to explore global perspectives of Portugal's revolution
