Articles & Papers by Anthony Soares
This article sets out an overview of the Joseph Rowntree-funded Towards a New Common Chapter proj... more This article sets out an overview of the Joseph Rowntree-funded Towards a New Common Chapter project, managed by the Centre for Cross Border Studies: its origins and rationale, and some of what it has revealed so far of attitudes among a number of grassroots community organisations from both jurisdictions on the island of Ireland towards the notion of cross-border cooperation. However, neither this article nor the project at its current stage should be seen as definitive in terms of what they may tell us of general perceptions of and commitment to cross-border cooperation. Having completed two stages involving 10 community organisations and a number of related groups comprising 86 participants, the project is only now embarking on a third stage aimed at disseminating “A New Common Chapter for cooperation within and between these islands” drafted by the participating groups at the end of the second stage, and reproduced below. It will be during this process of interacting with other grassroots community organisations on the island of Ireland and seeking their views on the New Common Chapter that we will perhaps gain a wider understanding of the relative support for the notion of cross-border, North-South and East-West cooperation.
This report evaluates how relations within the island of Ireland, and between the island of Irel... more This report evaluates how relations within the island of Ireland, and between the island of Ireland and Great Britain are framed within the approaches to the negotiations being taken by the main players involved, and suggests how to safeguard North-South and East-West relations in the post-Brexit context using the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement as a framework.
This Briefing Paper considers the ‘Flexible and Imaginative solutions’ which may have to be explo... more This Briefing Paper considers the ‘Flexible and Imaginative solutions’ which may have to be explored post-Brexit and recommends that the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement should become a framework enabling the post-Brexit flow of people, goods and services between the two jurisdictions on the island of Ireland, and between the island of Ireland and Great Britain, avoiding the hardening of existing borders or the creation of new ones.
Introduction By the end of 2017 (but perhaps as early as June 2016) the people of the United King... more Introduction By the end of 2017 (but perhaps as early as June 2016) the people of the United Kingdom will have voted in a referendum that will decide whether the UK remains a member of the European Union. The decision that citizens in all parts of the UK make on that day will, among other things, determine whether the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland remains as an internal EU border allowing the free movement of goods, services, capital and people, or whether it becomes an external border marking the boundary between a state belonging to a club with another 26 members and a region of a UK seeking its future outside it. This decision will have consequences for future generations. Given the importance of what is at stake and the range of complex issues the referendum raises, the Centre for Cross Border Studies with Cooperation Ireland decided to publish a series of Briefing Papers to help inform the debate. 1 This is the first in that series, and it outlines some of the central issues that will then be examined in more detail in subsequent editions. However, in view of the number and complexity of the range of interrelated issues raised by the question of whether to remain in or leave the European Union, we do not aim to be exhaustive, but rather to point to some that could have a more immediate impact on cross-border cooperation and peace and reconciliation on the island of Ireland.
This article, written in 2012, examines the context of cultural production in contemporary Timor-... more This article, written in 2012, examines the context of cultural production in contemporary Timor-Leste. Começando com uma análise da relação íntima entre a literatura anti-colonial timorense e as suas circunstâncias materiais, esboça a amplitude que essa relação continua a ter na produção literária pós-colonial Beginning with an analysis of the close relationship between East Timorese anti-colonial literature and its material circumstances, it outlines the significance that relationship continues to have in postcolonial literary production. It proposes that contemporary East Timorese writers reflect the concerns that local cultural identity - actively repressed during colonialism - continues to be threatened by external forces.
This article considers the possible consequences of Brexit for Northern Ireland. It begins by ana... more This article considers the possible consequences of Brexit for Northern Ireland. It begins by analysing the political context leading up to the UK’s referendum on EU membership, which was preceded only weeks earlier by the elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly. It then offers an overview of the reaction of a divided Northern Ireland Executive to the UK’s decision to leave the EU, before considering some of the potential consequences for Northern Ireland of the UK’s departure from the EU. These include the future nature of the Northern Ireland-Ireland border, North-South relations, the possibility of retaining the Common Travel Area, the loss of EU funding for cross-border cooperation, as well as customs controls and trade. It concludes by suggesting how Northern Ireland could retain some degree of continuing relationship with the EU.
In the run-up to the referendum, the Centre for Cross Border Studies and Co-operation Ireland are... more In the run-up to the referendum, the Centre for Cross Border Studies and Co-operation Ireland are publishing a series of briefing papers which aim to inform debate by exploring the potential impacts on Northern Ireland and North-South relations. The first paper in this series provided an overview of the potential consequences of a ‘leave’ vote for future co-operation and peace building across the island. The second focused in greater depth on possible constitutional and political impacts, particularly what implications a UK departure from the EU may have for key political and legal instruments underlying the Northern Ireland peace settlement, whilst the third examined the EU’s role in supporting cross-border cooperation and how Brexit may affect such cooperation. The fourth paper examined the question of free movement, setting out how that principle operates within the EU and how it relates to the Common Travel Area, an arrangement between the UK and the Republic of Ireland for free movement of Irish and UK citizens between the two jurisdictions that predates the EU and their accession to it. It concluded by identifying some of the potential consequences to the free movement of people and the Common Travel Area if the UK were to leave the EU, as well as highlighting some of the changes agreed in principle to the issue of free movement by the EU that would be implemented if the UK decided to remain.
In this fifth and last paper in our series we will consider the question of economic development. However, the issue of the future of the UK and Northern Ireland’s economy in the event of a Brexit is perhaps the most contested, with radically contradictory arguments on how the economy would fare outside the EU. This is in large part due to not knowing what arrangements would be put in place as a result of the negotiations between the UK Government and the EU following a formal declaration to the European Council of the UK’s departure. It is also as a result that the arguments on both sides are necessarily based on economic forecasts, which by their very nature cannot be seen as definitive. The future performance of the economy of the UK and Northern Ireland, of the EU, or of any other economic bloc or nation cannot be predicted with absolute certainty given that any number of unpredictable events can affect the global, regional or national economies.
In the run-up to the referendum, the Centre for Cross Border Studies and Co-operation Ireland are... more In the run-up to the referendum, the Centre for Cross Border Studies and Co-operation Ireland are publishing a series of briefing papers which aim to inform debate by exploring the potential impacts on Northern Ireland and North-South relations. The first paper in this series provided an overview of the potential consequences of a ‘leave’ vote for future co-operation and peace building across the island. The second focused in greater depth on possible constitutional and political impacts, particularly what implications a UK departure from the EU may have for key political and legal instruments underlying the Northern Ireland peace settlement, whilst the third examined the EU’s role in supporting cross-border cooperation and how Brexit may affect such cooperation.
This fourth paper in the series considers the issue of the free movement of citizens within the EU and how a UK withdrawal from the European Union may impact on the ability of people to move across the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It will begin by outlining the rights currently enjoyed by EU citizens – including those from the UK – in relation to free movement, as set out in the relevant EU treaties, and how these relate to arrangements agreed between the UK and the Republic of Ireland that predate their accession to the EU. We will also assess the potential impacts of a Brexit on people currently commuting to work across the only land border between the UK and another EU Member State, before highlighting the negotiations undertaken by the UK Prime Minister and the EU on the matter of immigration.
In the run-up to the referendum, the Centre for Cross Border Studies and Co-operation Ireland are... more In the run-up to the referendum, the Centre for Cross Border Studies and Co-operation Ireland are publishing a series of briefing papers which aim to inform debate by exploring the potential impacts on Northern Ireland and North-South relations. The first paper in this series provided an overview of the potential consequences of a ‘leave’ vote for future co-operation and peace building across the island. The second focused in greater depth on possible constitutional and political impacts, particularly what implications a UK departure from the EU may have for key political and legal instruments underlying the Northern Ireland peace settlement.
This third paper in the series considers the role the European Union has played in supporting cross-border cooperation that has contributed to peace-building and regional socio-economic development. It will outline the funding made available by the EU to undertake such cooperation, and how local authorities from both sides of the border have collaborated on joint projects. It concludes by assessing the future of cross-border cooperation in a post-Brexit scenario, and by offering some examples of cross-border cooperation between EU and non-EU countries.
In the run-up to the referendum, the Centre for Cross Border Studies and Co-operation Ireland are... more In the run-up to the referendum, the Centre for Cross Border Studies and Co-operation Ireland are publishing a series of briefing papers which aim to inform debate by exploring the potential impacts on Northern Ireland and North-South relations. The first paper in this series provided an overview of the potential consequences of a ‘leave’ vote for future co-operation and peace building across the island. This current paper focuses in greater depth on possible constitutional and political impacts. In particular, it considers what implications UK departure from the EU would have for key political and legal instruments underlying the Northern Ireland peace settlement, including the Belfast Agreement itself. It concludes by briefly noting potential impacts on the wider UK devolution regime.
NEIL LAZARUS NOTOU QUE O APARECIMENTO DOS ESTUDOS PÓS-COLONIAIS COMO DISCIPLINA COINCIDIU COM O “... more NEIL LAZARUS NOTOU QUE O APARECIMENTO DOS ESTUDOS PÓS-COLONIAIS COMO DISCIPLINA COINCIDIU COM O “FIM IMPOSTO À ‘ERA BANDUNG’”. O PRESENTE TRABALHO ANALISA O ATLÂNTICO SUL “LUSÓFONO” COMO UM ESPAÇO DENTRO DE UM EIXO TRICONTINENTAL MAIS AMPLO QUE LEVANTA A QUESTÃO SE ESTAMOS A TESTEMUNHAR UMA RESISTÊNCIA TIPO “BANDUNG” À HEGEMONIA DO NORTE, OU APENAS UMA VERSÃO LUSO-TROPICAL DO CAPITALISMO GLOBAL – O CAPITALISMO GLOBAL COM UM ROSTO MERIDIONAL RISONHO?
NEIL LAZARUS HAS NOTED THAT THE EMERGENCE OF POSTCOLONIAL STUDIES AS A DISCIPLINE COINCIDED WITH “THE ENFORCED END OF THE ‘BANDUNG ERA’”. MY WORK EXAMINES THE “LUSOPHONE” SOUTH ATLANTIC AS A SPACE WITHIN A WIDER TRICONTINENTAL AXIS THAT RAISES THE QUESTION AS TO WHETHER WE ARE WITNESSING A BANDUNG - LIKE RESISTANCE TO NORTHERN HEGEMONY, OR MERELY A LUSO-TROPICAL VERSION OF GLOBAL CAPITALISM - GLOBAL CAPITALISM WITH A SMILING, SOUTHERN FACE?
This paper questions the extent to which current critical engagements with postcolonial realities... more This paper questions the extent to which current critical engagements with postcolonial realities may exhibit an exoticising tendency they simultaneously decry as colonialism’s orientalist reflex. Contemporary instances of the exoticization of the “other”, however, are not necessarily the result of a practice of cultural translation that becomes ‘the superimposition of a dominant way of seeing, speaking and thinking onto marginalised peoples and the cultural artefacts they produce’ (Huggan, A Postcolonial Exotic 24). Instead, it is proposed they result from a reaction to a localized political disenchantment that leads to an imagining of a postcolonial distanced “other” portrayed as the possibility of resistance to the hegemonic forces bemoaned by the postcolonial critic. Is it legitimate, therefore, to ask whether the exoticizing essence of the description of Portuguese Timor in the 1930s by the deportado Paulo Braga as ‘Um país onde é belo e doce viver’ survives as an undercurrent in analyses of postcolonial Timor-Leste?
Short article in Rural Community Network News on the future of cross-border cooperation in the so... more Short article in Rural Community Network News on the future of cross-border cooperation in the socio-economic development of rural communities on the Irish border.
The Journal of Cross Border Studies in Ireland, 2014
This article considers the work and context of the All Island Local Authority Forum - a group of ... more This article considers the work and context of the All Island Local Authority Forum - a group of the most senior officials from local authorities in Ireland and Northern Ireland - and how it can be seen as representative of the potential value of cross-border cooperation.
This essay offers an historical account of the border between West and East Timor, and how it has... more This essay offers an historical account of the border between West and East Timor, and how it has helped to shape the territories it divides within the international political economy.
Ellipsis
This article examines the novels of the East Timorese writer Luís Cardoso, and argues that their ... more This article examines the novels of the East Timorese writer Luís Cardoso, and argues that their representations of a colonial past should not be simply interpreted as memorializations of Timor-Leste’s suffering at the hands of foreign aggressors. It proposes that underlying their revisiting of the past is a call for acknowledgement of the agency of East Timorese in the history of violent conflict that has troubled the nation, and that only this can guarantee true reconciliation, justice and national independence.
Portuguese Studies, 2009
Beginning with a panoramic analysis of the role played by East Timorese poets in the struggle for... more Beginning with a panoramic analysis of the role played by East Timorese poets in the struggle for liberation from Portuguese and Indonesian colonial rule, this article examines the extent to which an East Timorese national identity and unity repeatedly featured in the poetry of the 1970s and 80s are represented in contemporary Timorese literary production. By reading the work of the novelist Luís Cardoso, and the poets Abé Barreto and Celso Oliveira, the article also assesses whether the independent nation envisioned earlier by those such as Borja da Costa, Fernando Sylvan and Xanana Gusmão, has been realised. In doing so, critical attention is brought to bear on the intimate relationship between the specific material and political circumstances of East Timor and the literature produced in colonial and postcolonial moments in the nation’s history.
Postcolonial Theory and Lusophone Literatures , 2007
Informed by Benita Parry's view that predominant trends in postcolonial criticism have relegated... more Informed by Benita Parry's view that predominant trends in postcolonial criticism have relegated liberation theory and discourses to a largely ignored academic backwater, giving rise to ‘a tendency amongst postcolonial critics to disown liberation discourses and practices' this essay analyses some instances of East Timorese liberation poetry, using them to illustrate the reluctance of postcolonial critics to posit value upon this type of lyrical discourse. It will argue that this lyric production is unjustly relegated to an ‘intermediary’ stage of doubtful merit in the literary development of East Timor, and doubly so given the particular circumstances of this former Portuguese colony, whose full independence was only achieved in 2002. This essay will also propose that some postcolonial critics may minimise the value of such poetry because of its ‘utopian’ visions. In this respect, critics fail to take properly into account that this poetry is a creative reaction to the concrete situation in which the Timorese found themselves at the time of its production, and the historical context needs to be considered.
Romance Studies, 2006
This article examines whether the experiences of Portuguese and Indonesian colonial rule in East ... more This article examines whether the experiences of Portuguese and Indonesian colonial rule in East Timor acted as a unifying factor, creating a sense of East Timorese national identity, inspiring its poets to engage in a revolutionary and anti-colonial lyrical discourse that mirrored the aspirations of those fighting for independence. It also considers the significance of contemporary East Timorese poetry that has elements of a counterdiscourse in a postcolonial, independent East Timor, asking whether the apparent unity of anti-colonial lyric voices has fractured, and whether the disappearance of the oppressive presence of Indonesia means that there is no power that can inspire a concerted reaction amongst East Timorese poets. Finally, although the ‘other(s)’ against which the colonial and postcolonial poetic counterdiscourses of East Timor are reacting against may be different, the negative effects they are accused of become themes that are common to the poetry of both historical periods. Therefore, this article will seek to pose some questions regarding the validity of the term ‘postcolonial’ when applied to East Timorese poetry.
Ellipsis, 2006
Through the examination of Camões’s Os Lusíadas, Sena’s Os Grão-Capitães and Saramago’s A Jangada... more Through the examination of Camões’s Os Lusíadas, Sena’s Os Grão-Capitães and Saramago’s A Jangada de Pedra, this article explores violence as a means of shaping Portuguese identity in different historical contexts, and how these works portray the continued recourse to violence as Portugal moves from colonizing to postcolonial nation.
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Articles & Papers by Anthony Soares
In this fifth and last paper in our series we will consider the question of economic development. However, the issue of the future of the UK and Northern Ireland’s economy in the event of a Brexit is perhaps the most contested, with radically contradictory arguments on how the economy would fare outside the EU. This is in large part due to not knowing what arrangements would be put in place as a result of the negotiations between the UK Government and the EU following a formal declaration to the European Council of the UK’s departure. It is also as a result that the arguments on both sides are necessarily based on economic forecasts, which by their very nature cannot be seen as definitive. The future performance of the economy of the UK and Northern Ireland, of the EU, or of any other economic bloc or nation cannot be predicted with absolute certainty given that any number of unpredictable events can affect the global, regional or national economies.
This fourth paper in the series considers the issue of the free movement of citizens within the EU and how a UK withdrawal from the European Union may impact on the ability of people to move across the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It will begin by outlining the rights currently enjoyed by EU citizens – including those from the UK – in relation to free movement, as set out in the relevant EU treaties, and how these relate to arrangements agreed between the UK and the Republic of Ireland that predate their accession to the EU. We will also assess the potential impacts of a Brexit on people currently commuting to work across the only land border between the UK and another EU Member State, before highlighting the negotiations undertaken by the UK Prime Minister and the EU on the matter of immigration.
This third paper in the series considers the role the European Union has played in supporting cross-border cooperation that has contributed to peace-building and regional socio-economic development. It will outline the funding made available by the EU to undertake such cooperation, and how local authorities from both sides of the border have collaborated on joint projects. It concludes by assessing the future of cross-border cooperation in a post-Brexit scenario, and by offering some examples of cross-border cooperation between EU and non-EU countries.
NEIL LAZARUS HAS NOTED THAT THE EMERGENCE OF POSTCOLONIAL STUDIES AS A DISCIPLINE COINCIDED WITH “THE ENFORCED END OF THE ‘BANDUNG ERA’”. MY WORK EXAMINES THE “LUSOPHONE” SOUTH ATLANTIC AS A SPACE WITHIN A WIDER TRICONTINENTAL AXIS THAT RAISES THE QUESTION AS TO WHETHER WE ARE WITNESSING A BANDUNG - LIKE RESISTANCE TO NORTHERN HEGEMONY, OR MERELY A LUSO-TROPICAL VERSION OF GLOBAL CAPITALISM - GLOBAL CAPITALISM WITH A SMILING, SOUTHERN FACE?
In this fifth and last paper in our series we will consider the question of economic development. However, the issue of the future of the UK and Northern Ireland’s economy in the event of a Brexit is perhaps the most contested, with radically contradictory arguments on how the economy would fare outside the EU. This is in large part due to not knowing what arrangements would be put in place as a result of the negotiations between the UK Government and the EU following a formal declaration to the European Council of the UK’s departure. It is also as a result that the arguments on both sides are necessarily based on economic forecasts, which by their very nature cannot be seen as definitive. The future performance of the economy of the UK and Northern Ireland, of the EU, or of any other economic bloc or nation cannot be predicted with absolute certainty given that any number of unpredictable events can affect the global, regional or national economies.
This fourth paper in the series considers the issue of the free movement of citizens within the EU and how a UK withdrawal from the European Union may impact on the ability of people to move across the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It will begin by outlining the rights currently enjoyed by EU citizens – including those from the UK – in relation to free movement, as set out in the relevant EU treaties, and how these relate to arrangements agreed between the UK and the Republic of Ireland that predate their accession to the EU. We will also assess the potential impacts of a Brexit on people currently commuting to work across the only land border between the UK and another EU Member State, before highlighting the negotiations undertaken by the UK Prime Minister and the EU on the matter of immigration.
This third paper in the series considers the role the European Union has played in supporting cross-border cooperation that has contributed to peace-building and regional socio-economic development. It will outline the funding made available by the EU to undertake such cooperation, and how local authorities from both sides of the border have collaborated on joint projects. It concludes by assessing the future of cross-border cooperation in a post-Brexit scenario, and by offering some examples of cross-border cooperation between EU and non-EU countries.
NEIL LAZARUS HAS NOTED THAT THE EMERGENCE OF POSTCOLONIAL STUDIES AS A DISCIPLINE COINCIDED WITH “THE ENFORCED END OF THE ‘BANDUNG ERA’”. MY WORK EXAMINES THE “LUSOPHONE” SOUTH ATLANTIC AS A SPACE WITHIN A WIDER TRICONTINENTAL AXIS THAT RAISES THE QUESTION AS TO WHETHER WE ARE WITNESSING A BANDUNG - LIKE RESISTANCE TO NORTHERN HEGEMONY, OR MERELY A LUSO-TROPICAL VERSION OF GLOBAL CAPITALISM - GLOBAL CAPITALISM WITH A SMILING, SOUTHERN FACE?
This is the first volume devoted explicitly to the postcolonial island, conceived in a broad geographical, historical, and metaphorical sense. Branching across disciplinary parameters (literary studies, anthropology, history, cultural studies), and analyzing a range of cultural forms (literature, dance, print journalism, and television), the volume attempts to focus critically on three areas: the current realities of formerly colonized island nations; the phenomenon of ‘foreign’ communities living within a dominant host community; and the existence of (local) practices and theoretical perspectives that complement, but are often critical of, prevailing theories of the postcolonial. The islands treated in the volume include Ireland, Montserrat, Martinique, Mauritius, and East Timor, and the collection includes more broadly conceived historical and theoretical essays. The volume should be required reading for scholars working in postcolonial studies, in island studies, and for those working in and across a range of disciplines (literature, cultural studies, anthropology).
Contributors: Ralph Crane, Matthew Boyd Goldie, Lyn Innes, Maeve McCusker, Paulo de Medeiros, Burkhard Schnepel, Cornelia Schnepel, Jonathan Skinner, Anthony Soares, Ritu Tyagi, Mark Wehrly.
In order to achieve these aims, Towards a Portuguese Postcolonialism brings together analyses of some common themes, such as notions of centre, periphery and semiperiphery, where certain industrialised nations form the centre of a world system, positioning countries that were once Portuguese colonial possessions at its periphery, and Portugal itself in an indeterminate semi-periphery. Other themes that are critically examined in the light of theories of the postcolonial are migration, language, identity and hybridity, always contextualising them in the particular realities of the Lusophone postcolonial world.
Towards a Portuguese Postcolonialism will, therefore, provide an understanding of the particular nature of postcoloniality in the Portuguese-speaking world and suggest a theoretical framework that sees it as an ongoing process within the wider postcolonial context. Its strenghts lie in the quality of the contributors, who bring their expertise to bear in a concerted manner on the idea that the postcolonial cannot currently be adequately understood through the predominantly Anglophone accounts, since these cannot properly explain the Lusophone postcolonial experience. Therefore, by providing analyses of the cultures and literatures of the former Portuguese empire with these aspects in mind, Towards a Portuguese Postcolonialism offers readers a clearer insight than has been the case until now into the realities of postcolonialism in the Lusophone world, as well as a theoretical framework that broadens current concepts of the postcolonial.
Contributors: Anthony Soares, Paulo de Medeiros, Carmen Ramos Villar, John Kinsella, David Brookshaw, Hilary Owen, Phillip Rothwell, Daniel Zubía-Fernández, Maria Teresa Carrilho, Onésimo Almeida.