After the Carnations: Social Movements in Portugal Since the 25 April 1974 Revolution

The Portuguese revolution of April 25, 1974, has drawn much well-deserved scholarly attention: it offers an innovative example of a leftist military-led revolutionary process that unexpectedly resulted in the transition to a West European-style social democracy. Although much of the existing scholarship has logically focused on the emerging political elites and institutions of the period, there is much more to consider about the revolution’s ramifications to the Portuguese social-movement sector.

This volume examines the legacy of social movements that emerged during the Portuguese Revolution. Each case study was selected to demonstrate the breadth and variety of the Revolution’s activist landscape, as well as the challenges of mobilization during regime transitions. As a whole, the volume offers an exploration of the imprint that social movements left on Portuguese democracy.

The chapters help us answer a variety of pertinent questions. Which social movements have survived post April 25? How did those movements adapt to the new institutional context? How have they remained relevant? Which issues/impacts did these organizations have that are still resonant today? Which repertoires of contention remain in the toolkit of tactics that current social movements use? What has been their impact on the quality of Portuguese democracy?