A dimensão imperial do espaço jurídico português. Formas de imaginar a pluralidade nos espaços ultramarinos, séculos XIX e XX

When the Portuguese Civil Code of 1867 was enforced in colonial territories, the right to be judged according to their »customs and law« (usos e costumes) was recognized for a large set of indigenous groups. Both decisions – the application of the Civil Code and the recognition of indigenous customs – reflected an existing tension between principles of unity and diversity in what concerned Portuguese legal order Overseas. In this article, I examine the role played by this tension in the judicial theories of Portuguese law teachers, colonial legislators, governors, judges and officers. By looking at their lessons, reports and memoires, as well as at the laws enacted, I identify their changing thoughts about the role of legal pluralism and its practices in the civilizational improvement of indigenous individuals and societies. In the closing pages of my contribution, I pay special attention to the changes that occurred in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when an indigenous system (indigenato) was first conceptualized and then enforced in Portuguese African colonies