Arriving from the revolution: International Women’s Year in the Portuguese ‘Hot Summer’

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this article, I discuss reactions to International Women’s Year (IWY) in Portugal. Following the military coup of April 1974 that brought down the Estado Novo dictatorship and initiated the Carnation Revolution, Portugal underwent the ‘Hot Summer’ of 1975, a period of intense social conflict and the decolonisation processes of countries in Africa that had long fought for independence (1961–1974). I examine the composition of the Portuguese delegation and the socialist-oriented discourse they adopted, underlining how little the needs of either women in the former colonies or feminist movements were represented and addressed. While two Portuguese women’s organisations, the Democratic Movement of Women and the Commission for the Status of Woman, took advantage of IWY to promote initiatives within the country, the Movement for Liberation of Women took a more critical approach. Interweaving history, memory, and written, visual, and oral sources, I interpret the legacy of events during the summer of 1975, at both an individual level and from the perspective of women’s organisations.