Situated in the interdisciplinary field of Critical Heritage Studies, this special issue gathers articles originating in diverse areas of scholarship (and in many cases fostering productive cross-fertilizations among them) that deal with the multifaceted postcolonial and globalized heritages of the Portuguese empire and Lusophone diasporas. The contributors discuss "heritage" and "influence" critically, as cultural and political arguments and practices, and as historical manifestations entailing diverse perspectives, motivations, and consequences, formed in colonial and postcolonial situations, imagining the past, the present, and the future.