THOMAZ, Fernanda. Casaco que se despe pelas costas: história do colonialismo, justiça e agências africanas em Moçambique/ Fernanda Thomaz - Juiz de Fora: Editora UFJF, 2022, 225 p.

Abstract

The book Casaco que se despe pelas costas by Fernanda do Nascimento Thomaz, published in 2022, originates from her doctoral thesis defended in 2012 at the Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF). The author, a specialist in African History and professor at the Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF), uses extensive judicial documentation to investigate the interaction between local and colonial norms in the Cabo Delgado district of Mozambique from 1894 to 1940. The study highlights the role of African agency within the colonial justice system, challenging Eurocentric approaches and emphasizing African legal plurality. Divided into two parts, the work examines the Portuguese colonial structure and the daily conflicts experienced by Africans, focusing on race, gender, and class aspects. The first part explores the colonial attempt to control local justice in a region characterized by ethnic and cultural diversity, while the second part investigates criminal cases as reflections of social and power dynamics. The author emphasizes the agency of African women and the region's religious and cultural dynamics, expanding the understanding of legal and social practices. By recovering silenced memories, Thomaz employs methodologies that prioritize individual narratives and diverse sources, such as reports, periodicals, and ethnographies. The book engages with recent studies on justice and colonialism, including works by scholars like Sidney Chalhoub, Mariana Dias Paes, and Nuno Camarinhas. Its title, inspired by a Macua proverb, reflects the African experience of manipulation and exploitation within colonial justice. By highlighting the complexity of colonial relations and the role of everyday resistance, the book contributes to a historiography that humanizes colonized subjects. Thomaz's research reaffirms the importance of an interdisciplinary and critical approach, establishing itself as a key reference in the analysis of African legal and social history.