A People’s History of the Portuguese Revolution

Raquel Cardeira Varela is a Professor at New University of Lisbon, and Senior Visiting Professor at the Fluminense Federal University. She is also president 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 (Pluto, 2018).

On the 25th April 1974, a coup destroyed the ranks of Portugal's fascist Estado Novo government as the Portuguese people flooded the streets of Lisbon, placing red carnations in the barrels of guns and demanding a 'land for those who work in it'. This became the Carnation Revolution - an international coalition of working class and social movements, which also incited struggles for independence in Portugal's African colonies, the rebellion of the young military captains in the national armed forces and the uprising of Portugal's long-oppressed working classes. It was through the organising power of these diverse movements that a popular-front government was instituted and Portugal withdrew from its overseas colonies. Cutting against the grain of mainstream accounts, Raquel Cardeira Varela explores the role of trade unions, artists and women in the revolution, providing a rich account of the challenges faced and the victories gained through revolutionary means.

A rich history of Portugal's Carnation Revolution, told by its trade unionists, activists, workers and women

Photographs, Figures and TablesAcknowledgementsEditor's note on the English editionAbbreviations1. Introduction2. The Seeds of Change3. 25 April 1974: 'The People are No Longer Afraid'4. Who Governs?5. The Anti-Colonial Movements and the Myth of a 'Bloodless Revolution'6. Strikes and their Reverberations7. Self-Management and the Struggle Against Redundancies8. Women in a Democracy are Not Mere Decoration: Social Reproduction and Private Life in the Revolution9. Artists and the Revolution10. Workers' Commissions and Unions11. 'Here is the Nursery' - Urban Struggles and Residents' Commissions12. Workers' Control, 11 March and Nationalisations13. The Birth of the Welfare State14. Scheming for Power15. The Land for its Workers: Agrarian Reform16. The 'Hot Summer' of 1975 and the Fifth Government's Frail Governance17. Spain and other 'Links in the Chain'18. The Crisis19. Democracy and Revolution: The Meaning of the Carnation Revolution20. In CelebrationChronologyNotesBibliographyIndexAbout the author