A INTERNACIONALIZAÇÃO DE LISBOA: PARADIPLOMACIA DE UMA CIDADE,(The internationalization of Lisbon: paradiplomacy of a city) Coordinated by Luís Moita

“A internacionalização de Lisboa: paradiplomacia de uma cidade” is a book produced within a research project developed by the research centre OBSERVARE entitled Cidades e Regiões: a paradiplomacia em Portugal (Cities and Regions: paradiplomacy in Portugal). The book describes internationalization movements with territorial and social relevance (in commerce, in tourism, in employment) as evidence of deeper cultural, economic and financial changes and strategies which have occurred, either deliberately or spontaneously, in the past decades in contemporary cities.

The underlying assumptions of the referred study are: firstly, cities are themselves agents and privileged actors in international scenario from where the crisis of the Nation-State may be observed; secondly, paradiplomacy as diplomatic practices by non-national entities with foreign counterparts “todas as práticas diplomáticas de entidades subestatais (…) conduzidas por governos subnacionais com o objetivo de promover os seus próprios interesses em distintas áreas temáticas (…) com interlocutores estrangeiros públicos ou privados” (Santos: 31) has become more and more important – as a means for the internationalization of the cities within International Relations and as category for analyzing contemporary urban logic; thirdly, and since the study focuses on the city of Lisbon, the referred city is under analysis, in particular in terms of its dual character in terms of size/relevance “demasiado grande no país”/“modesta quanto à integração em redes globais e europeias” (Moita: 10- 11), considering there is an intense movement towards nationalization which needs to be understood, so as to be able to answer to the crucial question – the undeniable internationalization movement we are witnessing derives solely from external dynamics or is due to coordinated action by the State and by paradiplomacy?

So as to answer this question, several texts are produced from a theoretical perspective (Sofia José Santos), using a diachronic approach (Fernando Amorim and Luís Moita), and a series of texts on specific aspects of the internationalization of Lisbon: tourism, environmental sustainability (Brígida Brito), culture (Célia Quintas, Brígida Brito and Helena Curto), cosmopolitism (Maria João Mortágua and Madalena Mira) and technological competitiveness (Carlos Morais).