Carnation Revolution Research Articles

Media construction of pseudo-events: Lula da Silva at the Portugal’s parliament during a historic annual celebration

The Carnation Revolution (25th April 1974) has changed the course of Portugal, leading it to transition from an autocratic to a democratic Government. Every year, celebrations are conducted at the national Parliament. In 2023, it counted with another guest: Lula da Silva, Brazil’s ongoing president. Considering the notion of cultural memory and media construction of social reality through media events, this article notes Lula da Silva’s presence and exceptional address was portrayed on newspaper front pages of several journalistic media outlets. Therefore, it aims at understanding meaning and discourse production with Lula da Silva’s visit to Portugal on the 25th April 2023 through media coverage and first page highlight. Lula da Silva is noticed by the front pages under analysis as a controversial, entertaining, and eventful celebrity linked to specific positioned actors that is invited to the Parliament and prompts indirectly and directly discontentment and, at the same time, support. Also, it discusses how such spotlight over Lula da Silva turned that visit and Parliament’s address it into a pseudo-event. Adopting a Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis approach, this research work intends to offer a multimodal eye upon those front pages and critically reflect on populism, coloniality, cultural memory, and journalism.

The Carnation Revolution in the West German press

The revolution of 25 April aroused public interest in Portugal for the first time in West Germany. Compared to other countries, however, the interest was rather modest. None of the Federal Republic of Germany’s newspapers sent a correspondent to Lisbon to report on the day-to-day events of the revolution, as did some European newspapers and even Neues Deutschland, the official organ of the German Democratic Republic’s ruling party. Through the newspapers, the citizens of West Germany received a partial, superficial and biased view of the events in revolutionary Portugal. The treatment of Nelkenrevolution (the Carnation Revolution) in the West German press says almost as much about Portugal as it does about the peculiar political culture of the Bonn Republic, which the Cold War deeply influenced.

‘Doesn’t Paris like the Portuguese spring’? France and the Carnation Revolution

France was one of the countries that followed with the greatest attention and concern the events that took place in Portugal between 25 April 1974 and the end of 1976. In 1974, there were 800,000 Portuguese living in France and French investment in Portugal had increased significantly in the early 1970s. While the French government initially looked favorably on 25 April and the decolonization process, the French attitude changed significantly after 11 March 1975 and especially during the Hot Summer. Valéry Giscard d’Estaing then advocated for suspending the financial aid that European institutions intended to grant to Portugal.

Entre o fascismo e o autoritarismo conservador. O regime do Estado Novo nos manuais escolares portugueses de história (1975-2023)

In Portugal, the dictatorial Estado Novo regime (1933-1974) ended with the Carnation Revolution of 25 April, which put an end to thirteen years of colonial war on several fronts. Since then, the regime has been the subject of an intense historiographical debate that has ultimately covered its multiple dimensions and realities. Part of this debate has focused on its possible “fascist” nature. The aim of this text is to use a comparative methodology (qualitative and quantitative) to analyse post-25 April history textbooks to see how the approach to the dictatorship might have evolved.

Singularities of Timor-Leste’s Process of Self-Determination (1974–2002)

Abstract The self-determination of Timor-Leste presents singular features in contexts of Portuguese decolonization and global politics. It spans three periods: Portugal’s territorial reconfiguration after the Carnation Revolution; re-colonization under a major international player in global decolonization; and direct involvement of the United Nations in final phases leading to independence. It distinctively combines struggle for self-determination with a plight for broad human rights. A transnational multitude of actors, from colonial and neo-colonial powers to the UN and leading regional and world powers, blended state diplomacy with “citizens diplomacy” arising from the mobilization of civil society and the impact of international public opinion.

On the 50 th anniversary of the Portuguese Revolution of April 25 1974

In 2024, the Portuguese people, and with them the entire democratic and progressive world, celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ‘Carnation Revolution’, the first and to date only social revolution in western Europe after the second world war. In its rising phase between 1974 and 1976, the Portuguese revolution implemented profound antimonopoly, anti-imperialist and even anti-capitalist transformations that radically changed the country’s economic structures and the living conditions of the Portuguese people. Its central goal was to achieve liberation from fascist rule and an end to colonial wars. This it achieved. But it was also an ‘unfinished revolution’ in terms of its wider goals of social transformation. The Portuguese revolution left deep imprints of achievements, experiences and values. These remain the basis of the Portuguese Communist Party’s current programme for an advanced democracy, a programme that the party proposes to the Portuguese people and that is an integral part of the socialist Portugal of the future.

The carnation revolution of 1974 and its legacy

John Green takes us back 50 years to the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Portugal: a personal reminiscence from a TV journalist who witnessed the revolutionary process firsthand, from April 1974 onwards. He explains how the armed struggles for colonial freedom in Africa triggered the momentous events in Portugal and how a more than 40-year-old fascist dictatorship was overthrown by progressive soldiers in the Portuguese army. He examines the significance and legacy of that revolution for us today.

Cinema and Revolution: Fifty years after the Carnation Revolution

This special section of Aniki is designed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Portuguese revolution of 1974-1975. The five articles included in it reflect the need to bring together international research, particularly on a theme with such a wide geographical scope as this one, highlighting the importance of adopting cross perspectives. The analyses proposed in these essays take a variety of approaches – critical film studies, the history of cinema’s modes of production, the ontology of the documentary, comparative analysis – and move through different filmic forms and revolutionary territories, namely: France, the Philippines, Spain, Romania and Brazil. Together, these essays allow us to update the links between cinema and revolution and extend them to other historical contexts and case studies, thus contributing to the global history of a cinema that has for a long time been confronting revolution and society in creative and inspiring ways.

They shall not pass? The role of supply-side factors in the electoral breakthrough of VOX and Chega

ABSTRACT No country is immune to the electoral success of populist radical right (PRR) parties: Spain and Portugal seemed to be the exception to this rule because, for decades, PRR parties remained relegated to the margins of the Iberian political systems. However, in 2019 VOX and Chega gained parliamentary representation: how did they manage to obtain their historic electoral breakthrough? From a supply-side perspective, we use the Party Manifesto dataset to show that VOX and Chega chose to position themselves within the existing political space and cleavages in ways that set them apart from the competition. VOX exploited the Spanish centre-periphery cleavage insisting on strong nationalist elements while advocating for increased centralization, while Chega insisted on personal freedom and welfare limitation to break the ties with the political system born out of the Carnation Revolution.

The “Old” and the “New” in Portuguese Music Amália Rodrigues, Fado, and Canto de Intervenção in the Carnation Revolution

Resumo A partir de finais da década de 1960, o fado e sua principal intérprete, Amália Rodrigues, foram identificados com o atraso político, econômico e cultural do Estado Novo português. Por um lado, o gênero musical era convidativo à resignação e ao conformismo; por outro, Amália era vista como adepta e colaboradora da ditadura de Oliveira Salazar e Marcello Caetano. Em substituição ao fado, uma nova canção, conhecida como “canto de intervenção”, ganhava crescente simpatia, sobretudo entre as juventudes universitárias e os segmentos de oposição. O presente artigo tem por objetivo analisar, por um lado, o gradual isolamento do fado e de Amália Rodrigues entre a crise do regime autoritário português e o processo revolucionário que se seguiu ao golpe de 25 de Abril de 1974; por outro, o papel do “canto de intervenção” como resultado de uma nova estética adequada aos valores do Estado revolucionário.

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

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.

Political Economy of the Carnation Revolution (1974–75)

Following the military coup of April 25th, 1974, Portugal experienced a revolutionary period characterized by unprecedented levels of labor unrest and political radicalization. As the social landscape suffered a profound transformation, key-sectors of the economy were nationalized, many firms went into self-management, and large areas of the south were swept by land occupation. When the country’s democratic Constitution was brought to vote on April 2, 1976, it contained numerous references to “socialism,” “self-management,” “planning,” and “agrarian reform,” bearing witness to a widespread commitment to build a “classless society.” What eventually took shape, however, was a mixed economy under a parliamentary regime, very similar to that of countries like Greece and Spain, both of which experienced far less dramatic democratic transitions. Drawing on the writings of Immanuel Wallerstein, Giovanni Arrighi, and Boaventura de Sousa Santos, this article analyzes the plans and strategies devised to ensure a socialist transition in the semiperiphery of the capitalist world-system during the 1970s.

Decolonization without Self-Determination?

Abstract As the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974 in Lisbon set in motion the process of decolonizing the empire, the future of ‘Portuguese Timor’ was the subject of an intense debate which involved external actors. Like other Asian remnants of the empire, Timor was a small territory surrounded by a giant neighbour, which laid claim to be part of the process. Indonesia sought contact with the Portuguese authorities, and the countries held several rounds of talks up to November 1975. This essay surveys those talks, based primarily on Portuguese archival material, and details how the two countries failed to reach an agreement. Whereas Indonesia sought direct negotiations that would decolonize the territory while excluding the Timorese themselves, Portugal took note of Indonesian claims but insisted that a genuine act of self-determination based on the direct consultation of the Timorese people was required.

Opera in Portugal in the Last Quarter of the Twentieth Century: A Reflection on the Theatrical and Musical Issues in Creating Music Theatre

ABSTRACT This article proposes a critical perspective on operatic production carried out in Portugal in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Through concrete examples, I examine the issues that arise in the process of creating the newly composed opera and music theatre. The aesthetic differences existing between these two genres partly depend on the relationships that composers have with theatre and/or stage directors. Therefore, I scrutinise the circumstances that led Portuguese composers to write new operas after the Carnation Revolution (1974), focusing on their creative processes as an attempt to answer the following critical questions: How did composers choose their librettos? What technical assistance did they have and at what stage of the creative process? Were some of these methods of writing opera applicable to music theatre? I propose to debate these issues through the critical eye of a person who actively participated in these productions, whether as a correpetiteur pianist working with singers, chorus master, or conductor. Ultimately, I intend to illustrate how the Carnation Revolution affected these operatic productions.

O 25 de Abril na imprensa da República Federal da Alemanha

The revolution of 25 April aroused public interest in Portugal for the first time in West Germany. Compared to other countries, however, the interest was rather modest. None of the Federal Republic of Germany’s newspapers sent a correspondent to Lisbon to report on the day-to-day events of the revolution, as did some European newspapers and even Neues Deutschland, the official organ of the German Democratic Republic’s ruling party. However, through the newspapers, the citizens of West Germany received a partial, superficial and biased view of the events in revolutionary Portugal. The treatment of the Carnation Revolution in the West German press says almost as much about Portugal as it does about the peculiar political culture of the Bonn Republic, which was deeply influenced by the Cold War.

Discursos do 25 de Abril: percurso histórico de um género político

As the 50th anniversary of April 25th approaches, an exploratory study has been initiated on a political genre linked to the history of Portugal: the speech delivered by the President of the Republic during the official ceremony commemorating the Carnation Revolution. Operating under the assumption that, during the production of a text, other texts are reproduced and revis-ited while respecting the genre tradition, a diachronic analysis of speeches produced from 1977 to 2023 was conducted. Following the Sociodiscursive Interactionism perspective, every text must be framed within a genre and the social activity that motivates it. Therefore, this study encompasses an approach to external components (production location, purposes, participants, etc.) before delving into the analysis of compositional elements. This article discusses the results of a qualitative analysis of a corpus comprising 20 speeches, focusing on formal, linguistic, and stylistic elements, as well as the role of narrative sequences in argumentative terms. The repetition of themes, particularly critical reflection and rupture, structural articulations (anaphoric parallelisms), and the narrative sequence is observed as a starting point for constructing arguments by analogy.

The Historical Heritage оf Portugal as a Factor of Division and Consolidation оf Society

The problem of divided societies and divisions in societies acquires special significance against the background of growing socio-political tensions in the internal and external political dimensions around the world. The West is ceasing to be an area of predominant tranquility and wellbeing. In recent years, in European societies a trend of increasing divisions has also emerged. The article analyzes old and new socio-political divisions (cleavages) within the Portuguese society. The choice of Portugal as a case study is due to the combination of several factors: the memory of the Carnation Revolution, the attitude towards the European project, the imperial past, Catholicism/secularism, and the historical legacy of the Salazar dictatorship. The theoretical and methodological framework of the study is based on the use of the concept of divided societies and constructivism as the main epistemological tools, while the country studies analysis is also applied. The authors attempt not only to identify the basic socio-cultural divisions in the contemporary Portuguese society, but also answer the question of whether it is possible to speak of a divided society in relation to the Portuguese case. The emphasis is placed on the peculiarities of Portugal’s historical path as a post-imperial state whose specificity is largely due, first, to the heritage of the Portuguese maritime empire, and, second, to the legacy of the 1974 Carnation Revolution. The key cleavages that are at the center of the analysis are the legacy of the Carnation Revolution, the European project, the imperial legacy, the religious configuration, and the Salazar heritage. The conclusion is that the Portuguese society has managed to avoid the most negative scenario of the development of the situation and has a chance of consolidation.

Migrations of Decolonization, Welfare, and the Unevenness of Citizenship in the UK, France and Portugal

Abstract Among its many global impacts, decolonization triggered the migration of several million ‘repatriates’ — white settlers or others associated with the imperial power — who left Asia and Africa and ‘returned’ to their European ‘motherlands’. This article explores the arrival of several thousand Anglo-Egyptians into Britain in 1957 following the Suez crisis, the one million pieds-noirs who left Algeria for France in 1962, and the 500,000 retornados who entered Portugal amidst the 1975 Carnation Revolution. Offering an integrated comparison of these three key moments of decolonization via the migrations they triggered, it underscores the importance of citizenship, understood here as both a ‘hard’ legal category and a set of ‘soft’ social practices. The comparison equally demonstrates how, across different national contexts, citizenship was unevenly applied. Despite holding the same rights, returnee-citizens faced discrimination from resident-citizens in subtle (and sometimes less subtle) ways. Moreover, subgroups of returnee-citizens were treated differently by the state, in a process that amounted at times to their physical and social segregation and a racialization of welfare. This unevenness of treatment illuminates how the British, French, and Portuguese national communities were reimagined in the era of decolonization, and the crucial role ‘repatriated’ citizens played in that process.

Building Nations After Empire: Post-Imperial Migrations to Portugal in a Western European Context

Building on original research and dialoguing with scholarly works on Portugal, France and the United Kingdom, this article argues that decolonisation and migrations from the (former) colonies triggered and moulded a new, post-imperial nation-building in Western Europe. Analysing the highly significant but hitherto much-neglected case of Portugal in its broader Western European context, this claim is substantiated by surveying how these migrations affected citizenship and notions of the national community, the welfare state and public memories. Comparative and relational in its approach, the article links the histories of white ‘returnees’ from Portugal's African colonies after the 1974 Carnation Revolution to those of non-white ‘immigrants’, arguing that we must situate in the same analytical field all those who migrated from (formerly) colonised territories to the metropole during the drawn-out end of empire.

Resistance and Resilience: The Nothing Factory and the Workers’ Self-Management of Fateleva

This article is about the resistance and resilience of workers when confronted with the likelihood of losing their jobs and seeing the factory where they worked close down. It discusses this topic by concentrating on the particular and singular case of workers’ self-management of Fateleva – Indústria de Elevadores, a firm that specialized in the production and maintenance of elevators, located in the northern part of Lisbon Metropolitan Region, Portugal. It was occupied by its workers in the context of the Carnation Revolution (1974–1976) and then self-managed until its closure in 2016.