Portugal: The Journey from "Welcoming" Policies to Anti-Immigration Mobilization

Catalog description

The course examines the shift in Portugal’s migration landscape, from a colonial legacy of openness to cultural diversity to the rise of anti-immigration movements. It explores how Portugal’s national myth of a country open to diversity, shaped by its colonial past, obscures issues of racism and migration. The course traces how migration policies have evolved in a postcolonial context, analyzes media’s role in perpetuating stereotypes, and investigates the rise of far-right anti-immigration mobilization. It also highlights immigrant resistance to these changes. Using Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy, the course encourages collaborative learning and participatory practices, fostering dialogue and decolonizing methodologies in migration studies. Students will engage actively in discussions, readings, and reflections, contributing to an exchange of ideas among students, faculty, and guest lecturers. Taught in English, course instructor: visiting FLAD professor, Thais França