O que é colonialismo?

The first episode of Tramas Coloniais, titled “What Is Colonialism?”, offers an introductory yet analytically grounded exploration of colonialism as a historical and ideological process, with particular attention to its manifestations in Africa. Using as its point of departure a nineteenth-century German board game about Cameroon, the episode examines how colonial domination was not only imposed through military conquest and political administration, but also reinforced through cultural representations, racialized imaginaries, and everyday pedagogical practices. From this starting point, the episode situates the partition of Africa within a broader history of violence, negotiation, and African resistance, highlighting both armed struggles for independence and legal disputes with colonial authorities. By juxtaposing European colonial games with an African game structured around sowing and harvesting, the episode also gestures toward counter-colonial epistemologies and alternative ways of interpreting power, memory, and social life. As such, the episode establishes the conceptual framework for the series by presenting colonialism as a complex and enduring structure that continues to shape the present.