João Figueiredo is a historian of empire, law, and normative orders with a PhD in History from the University of Coimbra and a BA in Anthropology. Before joining the University of Basel in February 2026, he held research positions at the Leibniz University Hannover (2025), the Käte-Hamburger Kolleg “Einheit und Vielfalt im Recht” at the University of Münster (2023-2025), and the Law School of the NOVA University of Lisbon. He also serves on editorial and scientific boards in African and colonial studies.

His research focuses on the history of the Portuguese Empire, with particular emphasis on West Central Africa, legal pluralism, slavery, and the entanglements of law, ritual, and governance. His recent monograph, Sorcery and Jurisdiction in Angola: The Law and Multinormativity in Early Modern West Central Africa (Böhlau, 2025), examines colonial and African normative orders beyond Eurocentric legal frameworks. His work has appeared in journals such as Postcolonial Studies, Heritage & Society, and the South African Historical Journal, and he is co-editor of the forthcoming volume The Legal Pluralism of Heritage (Routledge).

Figueiredo’s broader interests include colonial normative knowledge production, material culture and restitution, memorialization, and the history of anti-Blackness. He has taught and co-taught courses on colonial law, museum practices, and global histories of exchange at universities in Germany and Austria, and is active in international research networks and public scholarship.

We look forward to working with João.