Miguel Filipe Silva

Campus: Lisbon

Academic and personal website 

Born in Oporto, Portugal, Miguel completed his higher education in History at the University of Porto. He has completed an MBA at Catholic University, Porto Business School before embarking in doctoral research into Political Parties and Antifascism in the interwar period (1919-1939) in NOVA University, Lisbon. A Foundation for Science and Technology fellowship (2018-22) enabled extensive archival work in Portugal and Spain. His thesis is now complete and he will soon be awarded the degree of PhD in Contemporary History. Miguel’s broader scholarship bridges political history, African studies and development cooperation, with a particular focus in history and political science.

Alongside his academic work, Miguel has spent more than two decades bridging scholarship and practice. He has directed Engineers without Borders Portugal (TESE EwB), advised the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s Partnerships for Development programme, and today leads WB, EU and UNDP consulting teams at CESO International Consultants, focusing on institution-building and development cooperation across Africa. When not teaching, Miguel sits on the advisory board of CESO Academy, and mentors early-career researchers.

• Interdisciplinary epistemological and methodological perspectives: mixing Political History with Political Science.
• Comparative History and Political Science
• Political, Electoral and Party Systems 
• Fascism and Antifascism
• Socialism 
• Democracy
• Trade-unionism
• Dependency Theory and Decolonial Theory
• Development Economics

Journal articles

• Silva, M.F. (2023). The Study of Political Conjunctures and Political Parties at the Intersection of History and Political Science. Sociologia: Journal of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Porto, 45:83–108. 

•  Silva, M.F.; Silva, Rui; Silva, Rosa; (2017). Trade Unionism, Teachers and Education for All – Reflections on Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique. Africana Studia, 28:43–152. A
• Silva, M.F.; Santos, Maciel (2016). Mozambique between Railway Strikes and ‘Modus Vivendi’. Africana Studia, 27:127–148. 

• Costa e Silva, S.; Silva, M.F. (2012). Failure is a Stepping Stone for Success. International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, 9:153–179

Conference attendance and proceedings

• Silva, M.F. (2025). El Partido Socialista Portugués ante-la Amenaza Fascista (1922-1936). Conferencia ¿Eixamplar la Democràcia? Història i ensenyances de l’antifeixisme (1919-1939). Universidade de Valéncia/Gandia, 15 de julho de 2025.
• Silva, M.F.; Semedo, Rui Jorge (2022). The Weakening of Democratic Institutions and the Behaviour of Political Parties – the Case of Guinea-Bissau (1998–2019). International Conference: Political Parties in Africa. Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Porto, 5 May 2022.
• Silva, M.F. (2022). ¡A las Urnas por el Socialismo! Anatomía y Acción Político-Institucional del Partido Socialista Portugués (1907–1933). Seminar of the Group d’Estudis Històrics sobre les Transicions i la Democràcia. Faculty of Geography and History, University of Valencia, 31 March 2022.
• Silva, M.F.; Silva, Rui (2021). Strategic Importance of Early Childhood Education for the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. International Conference: Africa for Childhood. Paula Frassinetti School of Education, May 2021.
• Silva, Rui; Silva, M.F. (2021). Social Media and the Sustainable Development Goals: Analysing Twitter Debates Using Social Network Analysis. Conference: Sub-Saharan Africa and the Sustainable Development Goals. Centre for African Studies, University of Porto, April 2021.
• Silva, M.F.; Silva, Rui (2019). Teachers’ Unions and the Quality of Education: A Comparative Study of Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique. ECAS 2019: Africa: Connections and Disruptions. Panel: Innovation or Irrelevance – Analysis of New Strategies Used by African Trade Unions to Defend Labour Interests. Edinburgh, June 2019.
• Silva, M.F; Silva, Rui; Silva Rosa (2017). Teachers’ Unions and the Right to Quality Education for All: A Case Study in Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique. Biannual Conference on African Studies (African Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences). Moscow, October 2017.
• Silva, M.F. (2017). The Strikes of 1920 and 1925/26 in Mozambique: An Analysis Based on the Newspaper “O Emancipador”. International Conference: José Capela and the History of Mozambique – 45 Years After “O vinho para o preto”. Porto, 29–30 May 2017.
• Silva, M.F. (2017). Direct Action in Mozambique (1920–1926): Contribution to the History of the Portuguese Socialist Workers’ Movement in Mozambique. III Congress of the Workers’ Movement and Social Movements. Lisbon, 4–5 May 2017.
• Santos, M.; Silva, M.F. (2017). Railway Strikes in Angola and Mozambique – A Comparative Perspective Through the Press. International Congress: Politics and Culture in Colonial Periodical Press. Lisbon, 22–25 May 2017.
• Silva, M.F. (2015). The Role of Universities in Development Cooperation: The Case of the MA in History, International Relations and Cooperation. ·International Meeting on University Cooperation for Development: S.U.G – Northern Portugal. Pontevedra, Spain, 26–27 November 2015.

Books and book chapters

• Silva, M.F. (2025). El Partido Socialista Portugués y la Amenaza Fascista – entre el compromiso con la República, el aislamiento y las posibilidades de alianzas antifascistas (1922-1934). In Sergio Valero y Aurelio Martí (coord.), El Antifascismo Socialista en el Período de Entreguerras: municipalismo, reformismo y nación en el sur de Europa. València: Silex  
• Semedo, Jorge; Silva, Rui & Silva, M.F (2025). Apresentação. In Rui Jorge Semedo, Rui Silva & Miguel Filipe Silva, Memórias e Legados de Amílcar Cabral – Pensar com a nossa Cabeça e Andar com os nossos Pés. Porto e Bissau: Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisa da Guiné-Bissau e Centro de Estudos Africanos da Universidade do Porto, p.p.11-18. 
• Semedo, Jorge; Silva, Rui & Silva, M.F (coord.) (2025). Memórias e Legados de Amílcar Cabral – Pensar com a nossa Cabeça e Andar com os nossos Pés. Porto and Bissau: Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisa and Centre for African Studies, University of Porto. L (to be published at June 2025)
• Silva, Rui; Silva, M.F & Semedo, Jorge (2025). Amílcar Cabral Memory and Legacy in the Language Policy of Guinea-Bissau Education System. In Victor Barros & Almada Aurora e Santos (eds.), Amílcar Cabral and the PAIGC’s Binational Struggle for Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cabo Verde (Chapter VIII), pp266-278. London: Routledge. 
• Meredith, M.; Quiroz Niño, C. (Coords.), Arando, S., Coelho, L.S., Silva, M.F. & Villafuerte Pezo, A.M. (2015). Enhancing Studies of the Social and Solidarity Economy: A Reference Handbook. York: York St. John–Erasmus. L
•  Costa e Silva, S.; Silva, M.F. (2012). Failure is a Stepping Stone for Success. International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, 9:153–179. A

Other

• Silva, M.F.; Bosire, Abiud (2023). Critical Book Review: Jini Kim Watson, Cold War Reckonings – Authoritarianism and the Genres of Decolonization (New York: Fordham University Press, 2021, 272 pp.). Africana Studia, 39:91–92.
• Takacsova, Diana; Silva, M.F.; Oladeji, Odunola (2021). The Cost of Agricultural Produce in Portugal’s Alentejo Region. Solomon, 2 July.
• Teotónio Pereira, Luísa; Silva, M.F. (2021). Sara Ocidental: Walls in the Desert. Revista Visão, 5 May.

Project Title: To the Ballot for Socialism! Political-Institutional Anatomy and Action of the Portuguese Socialist Party (1907–1933).

PhD Fellowship No.: SFRH/BD/128651/2017

Funding Body: Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Portugal

Duration: 1 January 2018 – February 2022.