Biography

Ana Rita Alves is an anthropologist (2008), holds a Master's degree in Migrations, Inter-Ethnicities and Transnationalism, and a PhD in Human Rights in Contemporary Societies (2023). Her engagement with various disciplines-from anthropology to critical race theory, from urban studies to socio-legal studies-has been fundamental in analyzing processes of anti-Black and anti-Roma political violence in Portugal, resulting in numerous publications, including the book "Quando Ninguém Podia Ficar: Racismo, Habitação e Território" (When No One Could Stay: Racism, Housing and Territory, Tigre de Papel, 2021). Ana Rita was a 2020-2021 Black Studies Dissertation Scholar at the University of California, Santa Barbara (USA), and a consultant for the Council of Europe on the project "Inclusive Schools: Making a Difference for Roma Children" (2022). She has participated in several research projects, including "AGRRIN - Generative Bodies: from aggression to insurgency. Contributions to a decolonial pedagogy" (FCT, 2024-2025), "COMBAT - Combating Racism in Portugal: An Analysis of Public Policies and Anti-Discrimination Law" (FCT, 2016-2020), and "AFRO-PORT - Afro-Descendants in Portugal: Sociabilities, Representations, and Sociopolitical and Cultural Dynamics. A study in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area" (FCT, 2019-2021). Her work stems largely from an extensive and close dialogue with Black and Roma residents and collectives, generating a unique epistemological perspective and a deep understanding of the everyday consequences of anti-Black and anti-Roma governmentalities in the country. From this dialogue also emerged a series of initiatives for place reconstruction and memorialization, through the co-production of community events and social cartographies, co-curation of exhibitions and public programs, and co-authorship of articles and stories about self-produced spaces and resettlement areas in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area-consolidating a dialogue between political, scientific, and artistic fields. Ana Rita is co-founder of CHÃO - Urban Anthropology Atelier (2015), an academic outreach group committed to strengthening the relationship between academia and civil society. As a public intellectual, she has been actively involved in the anti-racist debate in Portugal. She is currently a researcher on the project "(Un)Protect - State (Un)Protection and Racialization in Portugal: a study of the impact of the child and youth protection system on Black and Roma women", at the Centre for Social Studies (CES - University of Coimbra), and a member of the team for the exploratory project "FILMASPORA - Popular Films in the Diaspora: towards a new cine-geography of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area" (FCT, 2024-2026).