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Reorganizing the Escudo Zone: Portuguese Monetary Policy and Empire-Union in Africa in the 1960s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2023

Maria Eugénia Mata Open the ORCID record for Maria Eugénia Mata [Opens in a new window]
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Abstract

In the 1960s, the escudo zone, comprising Portugal and its African colonies, countered the trend of European decolonization. The Portuguese state reorganized monetary relations in the empire-state with the help of a new legal framework. The aim of this imperial economic reorganization was to establish a balance of payment relations which was expected to facilitate Portugal’s economic modernization and the country’s association with liberalizing economies in Western Europe that were experiencing rapid economic growth. However, the escudo zone soon became dysfunctional. Mata explains why the designs of economy building in a Portuguese empire-state could not be realized, given the trend toward independent political and economic development in Lusophone Africa.

Résumé

Résumé

Dans les années 1960, la zone escudo, comprenant le Portugal et ses colonies africaines, a contré la tendance à la décolonisation européenne. L’État portugais a réorganisé les relations monétaires dans l’État-empire à l’aide d’un nouveau cadre juridique. Le but de cette réorganisation économique impériale était d’établir des relations de balance des paiements qui devaient faciliter la modernisation économique du Portugal et l’association du pays aux économies en voie de libéralisation d’Europe occidentale qui connaissaient une croissance économique rapide. Cependant, la zone escudo est rapidement devenue défaillante. Mata explique pourquoi les conceptions de la construction de l’économie dans un État-empire portugais n’ont pas pu être réalisées, étant donné la tendance au développement politique et économique indépendant en Afrique lusophone.

Resumo

Resumo

Na década de 1960, a zona do escudo, que abrangia Portugal e as suas colónias africanas, ia em contracorrente face ao movimento de descolonização europeia. O Estado português reorganizou as relações cambiais no Estado-império com a ajuda de um novo quadro legal. O objetivo desta reorganização económica imperial era criar um equilíbrio nas balanças de pagamentos, que deveria facilitar a modernização económica de Portugal e a aproximação do país às economias liberalizadoras da Europa ocidental, que nesse momento atravessava um rápido crescimento económico. No entanto, a zona do escudo depressa se tornou disfuncional. Mata explica as razões por que os intentos de desenvolvimento económico no Estado-império português não puderem ser concretizados, tendo em conta as tendências rumo a um desenvolvimento económico e político independente na África lusófona.

Keywords

Escudo Monetary ZoneLusophone AfricaPortugalcolonizationeconomic development
Type
Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 66 , Issue 3 , September 2023 , pp. 678 - 697
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the African Studies Association

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