Presentation

The transnational perspective can be explored through comparative studies, but it is not exclusively limited to comparative history, as it emphasizes integration and exchange in the formation of the historical phenomena studied. It challenges the traditional comparative model that presupposes isolated national units and seeks to affirm national exceptionalism through comparison with other nations, also considered in their uniqueness. Thus, the transnational perspective is open to dialogue with recent and innovative historiographical trends, such as connected histories, fostering investigations into situations of contact between different societies and cultures beyond national borders. The theoretical and methodological tools provided by connected histories are particularly important when considering the possibility of complicating the social, cultural, and political experiences of the past. They seek to reconnect diverse experiences and articulate multiple scales of observation of historical phenomena, allowing for a deeper and more integrated understanding of the interactions and connections that shaped the modern and contemporary world. This approach enables the promotion of research committed to more complex analyses of historical dynamics, overcoming the limitations of isolated national perspectives and offering a more comprehensive and interconnected view of historical experiences in the Global South.

It is important to emphasize that the focus on the Global South represents an effort by PPGHIS/UNILA to address the various challenges of the region from a perspective that engages with authors, concepts, and elements concerned with problematizing the Global South not only from an economic, political, or social standpoint but also in its cultural dimensions. The concept of the "Global South," which gained prominence through critical currents such as post-colonial studies, decolonial studies, and subaltern studies, signifies a shift from focusing on development or cultural differences to emphasizing geopolitical power relations. This concept understands that, beyond a geographical space, it involves the capacity to project multiple identities and claim complex geopolitical positions within the "world system." It also reinforces the importance of investigating the "epistemologies of the South," considering that such knowledge is not inferior to that produced by the wealthy countries of the globalized Western world but rather presents itself as an alternative to Eurocentric histories.

This approach fosters a more comprehensive and inclusive understanding of the diverse forms of knowledge and historical experiences emerging from regions considered part of the Global South. By recognizing and valuing these epistemologies, it is possible to challenge the hegemony of Eurocentric narratives and offer a more diversified and equitable view of history and international relations. In this way, it can contribute to the construction of a historiography that values the plurality and diversity of cultural, social, and political contexts around the world, promoting a more complex understanding of global, transnational, and connected dynamics.

The PPGHIS/UNILA aims to promote research that critically reassesses historiographical narratives about Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. Specifically regarding the history of the Triple Border region, the PPGHIS/UNILA proposes research that includes a myriad of new agents and objects in the historical process of cultural formation in the region. This conceptual framework, combined with the experience of the program’s faculty and the research practices developed within it, seeks to equip PPGHIS/UNILA graduates with the skills necessary to think critically about History in light of contemporary issues and the new challenges that have emerged in the discipline over recent decades. These challenges include the revision of nationalist, Eurocentric, and modernizing paradigms, and the critical examination of a range of issues understood as transnational, such as human rights and identity issues. In this sense, it is through the in-depth and systematic study of the History of the Global South, from a transnational perspective, that the PPGHIS/UNILA aims to contribute to the interdisciplinary dialogue fostered by the university, as well as establish itself as an original contribution to graduate studies in History in Brazil through the production of innovative research.

This perspective is well-suited to, and can even be fully developed through, the experience of UNILA’s undergraduate courses in History – Latin America and History – Teacher Training, whose curricula were designed with a focus on revising and critiquing the Eurocentric historiographical narrative that has shaped the development of the History discipline in Brazil. Fundamentally, this approach enriches the study of the local and regional context in which UNILA is situated, as the cultural richness and diversity of the Western Paraná region, and particularly the Triple Border, involve diasporas, cultural exchanges, and cross-border interactions. These dynamics include contributions from migrant populations from East Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, other Latin American countries outside the Triple Border, and more recently, Central America. This perspective also extends to research on indigenous populations (such as the Guarani people) and Afro-descendants in the region, with the goal of providing more plural interpretations of the past.