Description
Book Synopsis Histories of Portugal’s transition to democracy have long focused on the 1974 military coup that toppled the authoritarian Estado Novo regime and set in motion the divestment of the nation’s colonial holdings. However, the events of this “Carnation Revolution” were in many ways the culmination of a much longer process of resistance and protest originating in universities and other sectors of society. Combining careful research in police, government, and student archives with insights from social movement theory, The Revolution before the Revolution broadens our understanding of Portuguese democratization by tracing the societal convulsions that preceded it over the course of the “long 1960s.”
Trade Review “[This volume] is methodologically solid, empirically rich and theoretically innovative and will be an indispensable read to anyone interested in the history of authoritarianism and social movements in postwar Europe, scholarly or not.” • Democratization
“The Revolution before the Revolution is a landmark study, bringing us an insightful look into student mobilization against authoritarianism which will be of interest not only to students and scholars of Southern European democratization, but also to those concerned with the dynamics of opposition to authoritarianism in a wide range of settings.” • Social History
“This is an excellent study of the political mobilization of students in the long 1960s and its global diffusion in an authoritarian setting. It will be essential reading for students of social movements and political and cultural change in Europe.” • António Costa Pinto, University of Lisbon
“While there have been important studies of the rural and labor movements against the Portuguese dictatorship, the era’s student movements have for the most part not yet been approached in the same vein. Guya Accornero’s book on the subject combines important empirical research with a clear theoretical framework, making a contribution that is relevant beyond just Portuguese history.” • Rafael Durán-Muñoz, Universidad de Málaga
Table of Contents List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction
List of Abbreviations
Chapter 1. Two Decades that Shook the World, 1956-1974
- Old structures and new conflicts
- Student networks and repertories under the New State
Chapter 2. The First Protest Cycle: 1956-1965
- The weakening of the Salazarist system
- The academic crisis of 1962
- The end of the protest cycle
Chapter 3. 'The Marcelo's Spring' and the Opening of a Second Protest Cycle
- Marcelism
- Mobilization resources and repertoire
- The divergent paths of student contestation in Coimbra and Lisbon
Chapter 4. Protest Cycle or Permanent Conflict?
- The new objectives of the student movement
- The University of Lisbon: ‘an authentic boiler of revolutionaries’
Chapter 5. The Demise of the New State
- The end of the regime: mechanisms and processes
- Students and the revolution
- The ancient regime and the revolution
Conclusions: Social Movements and Authoritarianism: A Paradoxical Relationship
Bibliography
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