Introduction

Amílcar Cabral: Revolutionary legacy and contemporary resonance

Resumo

This special issue of Cadernos de Estudos Africanos is the result of a convergence of academic trajectories and collective interests. Our collaboration draws on different disciplinary backgrounds and generations yet shares a commitment to reassessing Cabral’s legacy in the context of contemporary debates. The idea first emerged within the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025. EADI’s Working Group on Institutions and Development in Portuguese-speaking Countries has long served as a platform for rethinking development and decolonisation. Within this space, discussions around critical development studies converged in Melber, de Alencastro et al. (2023) and Melber, Kothari et al. (2023), and raised the need for a Lusophone Africa’s contribution to gain momentum.

The proposal to focus on Cabral originated from Mike Powell, a member of EADI and contributing editor of the Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE). Drawing on his personal and professional connection with Basil Davidson, one of Cabral’s closest friends and a chronicler of African liberation, Powell insisted that Cabral deserved renewed attention, not as a static icon, but as a living interlocutor for present-day struggles. His reflections culminated in an interview and article for ROAPE, framing Cabral’s relevance for contemporary political and intellectual debates (Zeilig et al., 2023).

At the same time, we were each engaged in independent work on Cabral. Our collective efforts converged during a panel at the EADI General Conference 2023 in Lisbon, where we debated the relevance of Cabral to contemporary struggles against inequality, dependency, and epistemic injustice. Dr. Clara Carvalho, editor of Cadernos de Estudos Africanos, encouraged us to propose a special issue, recognising the timeliness of the theme.