The PIDE Between Memory and History: Revolutionary Tradition, Historiography, and the Missing Dimension in the Relation Between Society and Salazar’s Political Police

Abstract

EnglishThe recent historiography of twentieth-century dictatorships has been marked by the innovative exploration of the relations between ordinary citizens and the political police, uncovering systems of social practices characterized by ambiguity, accommodation, and opportunism—all of which contributed to the perpetuation of the dictatorial order. By contrast, the historiography of Salazar’s political police (PIDE) has continued to focus on its modalities of repression and the small minority of oppositionists at which these were directed. This article seeks to understand why. It argues that the historiography of the PIDE has not only become embroiled in memory politics, but is also actively involved in upholding a certain social memory of the PIDE. Renovating the study of the PIDE implies releasing the historiography from its current memorializing inflection and opening up the academic field to new research objects. portuguesA recente historiografia internacional dedicada ao estudo das ditaduras do seculo XX tem adoptado uma perspectiva inovadora centrada nas relacoes entre os cidadaos comuns e as policias politicas, tendo vindo a revelar um conjunto de praticas sociais caracterizadas pela ambiguidade, acomodacao e oportunismo—as quais contribuiram significativamente para a perpetuacao destes regimes. Porem, os estudos sobre a policia politica salazarista (PIDE) permanecem centrados nas suas modalidades de repressao e na minoria de oposicionistas a que estas se dirigiam. Este artigo argumenta que tal acontece porque esta historiografia permanece enredada em politicas de memoria e sustenta uma certa memoria social da PIDE. Defende-se assim que a desejavel renovacao dos estudos sobre a PIDE passa por ultrapassar esta inflexao da memoria e por adoptar novos objectos de investigacao.