50 Years of Independence - Portuguese decolonisation and its legacies
'50 Years of Independence - Portuguese decolonisation and its legacies' was developed by a team from CESOP - Universidade Portuguese Católica, coordinated by João António and António Costa Pinto, in partnership with the Commission to Commemorate 50 years of 25 April and RTP, based on a survey carried out by CESOP in 1995.
Between 21 May and 23 June 2025, 3113 people were interviewed in Portugal, Angola and Cape Verde, with the aim of finding out how citizens today perceive the processes of decolonisation, their legacies and current relations between Portugal and its former colonial territories in Africa.
Fifty years after independence, and in a context where the colonial past is once again the subject of public and political debate, the survey offers an opportunity to hear different perspectives on a remarkable historical process and its effects to this day.
This is an innovative and rare work: there are still few opinion studies that directly address African independence and how the memory of decolonisation is understood and updated in the societies involved, both in the countries that gained independence and in the former colonising country.
The study was presented on 1 July by João António, director and researcher at CESOP-UCP, in a special programme broadcast on RTP3 ‘Analysis and debate of the “Portugal, Angola and Cape Verde” polls on decolonisation and African independence’, which included the participation of political scientist António Costa Pinto, researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Lisbon; and Maria Inácia Rezola, Executive Commissioner of the Commission for the Commemoration of 50 years of 25 April. This was followed by a second panel made up of Helena Carreiras, professor at ISCTE-IUL and researcher at the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology; and Dino d'Santiago, musician and cultural activist.
The full reports, including fact sheets, of the polls carried out in the three countries can be found on the website of the Commission to Commemorate 50 Years of 25 April.