Summary

Portugal is simultaneously a country of emigration and a country of immigration, thus representing a particularly significant context for the study of contemporary diasporas. Accordingly, CEAS has given a strong emphasis to research on that topic. Although it is based on different contexts and lines of enquiry, this research is basically organised around two main concepts, which are central to contemporary anthropological research on the topic: ethnicity and transnationalism. In both cases, the task is to understand identity processes associated with migration, investigating fundamental aspects of contemporary “travelling cultures”. In the next three years, CEAS intends to further develop this line of research around two main directions of research. The first relates to the development of research on the Portuguese diaspora in North America: a project on the Portuguese-Canadian community is expected to start and contacts will also be established in order to launch a research on the Holy Ghost Festivals in North America. A second direction of research relates to the anthropological study of immigration in Portugal. Besides research on specific “ethnic enclaves”, a special emphasis will be put in the research of less studied immigrant groups in order to provide a more complete picture of immigration in Portugal.