Overview

A People's History of Portugal reconstructs the last two hundred years of class struggle in Portugal. Raquel Varela and Roberto della Santa examine the material conditions of its people - examining the real causes of the revolutionary waves and counter-revolutionary backlash. Starting in the early nineteenth century, the theme of colonialism and its antithesis runs through the narrative, as working-class life was closely entwined with Portuguese colonial exploitation. Despite relatively slow industrial development, Portuguese people spearheaded a surprisingly vigorous radical culture of dissent, eventually sparking a social and political revolution in 1974. More recently, Portugal's inclusion in the European Union has put its people in a neoliberal stranglehold that stifles democracy to this day. Are the working people of Portugal able to carry the memory of the revolutionary past into its future? This is a history of, and for, the people.

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9780745351605

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Reviews

'Raquel Varela and Roberto della Santa restore two hundred years of class struggle in Portugal to where it belongs. In the best traditions of 'history from below', their account ranges from beginnings of workers' organisation in the early years of the nineteenth century through to present-day resistance to the ravages of neoliberalism. The lessons of these momentous events reverberate through the pages of this book. Never was it more the case, as the authors remind us, that 'it is necessary to know one's own history to be part of its making as self-determinant agents'.' Andy Durgan, historian and author of Volunteers for the Revolution

Author Information

Raquel Varela is a Portuguese labour historian, researcher, and professor at New University of Lisbon, and Honorary Fellow at the International Institute for Social History. She is President of the Observatory of Labour and Living Conditions and a member of the executive board of the International Association of Strikes and Social Conflicts and co-editor of its journal. She is the author of A People's History of the Portuguese Revolution, A People's History of Europe, and the graphic novel Utopia, with Robson Villalba. Roberto della Santa is a Brazilian professor, social scientist, and researcher — who worked in Higher Education Institutions of Argentina, Brazil, Spain and Sweden. An Integrated Researcher at the Global Studies Centre of the Universidade Aberta de Lisboa, an International Associate at the Social Theory and Work Research Group of the Universidade de Brasilia and the Scientific Co-Coordinator of the Observatory for Living and Working Conditions / Nova4TheGlobe Sustainability. He was an Invited Assistant Professor at the University of Aveiro, taught Media Studies at the Liceu Camões and is an Invited Professor at the Post-Graduate Program at Nova School of Law. He collaborates with the journal Workers of the World. He has co-authored Global Labour Studies, The 25 of April Began in Africa and, for the 50th anniversary of the Portuguese Revolution, with the Kairós Collective, he co-wrote a series of five historical documentaries on the World of Work for RTP2 public television. Michael Roberts has worked in the City of London for over 30 years as an economist and financial adviser. He is author of several books including The Great Recession, The Long Depression and Marx 200. He blogs at thenextrecession.wordpress.com.

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