On Empires and Colonies: Atlantic Societies and Cultures

The areas connected to the Atlantic Ocean constitute one of those historiographic and cultural categories linked by a geography that is not limited by institutions such as the Nation-State because of the fluidity of their frontiers and an imperfect combination of political loyalties and geographical boundaries.

Africa, the Atlantic islands, Europe and America, particularly the Caribbean area, have become a centre point and an independent system resulting from the movement of ideas, cultures, men and merchandises that has taken place from the 16^th century to the present day.

We propose to develop the following objectives on the basis of the analysis of the historical processes generated by the different empires of the Atlantic world during colonial and postcolonial times throughout their evolution in space and time and from a comparative perspective:

• A comparison between the different colonial models of the Atlantic world.
• The Caribbean as a privileged laboratory for testing different colonial models, which produced a variety of cultural structures and solutions typical of the Atlantic world, based on slavery, migration and crossbreeding.
• A vision of the Atlantic world as precursor of globalisation.
• Migrations and processes of colonisation.
• The creation and operation of exchange networks.
• The evolution of Atlantic political systems.
• Transfer and circulation of scientific and technological models.