Violent Extremism in Contemporary Portugal

This book offers a multidimensional and multidisciplinary comparative analysis of the phenomenon of political violence and terrorism in contemporary Portugal.

Portugal is commonly considered to be a country of “mild customs and traditions”. However, does this perception correspond to factual reality? This book intends to demonstrate that the vision of Portugal as a “mild-mannered” country is a rhetorical construction and that Portugal was and continues to be a crucible of violent extremism. Drawing on historical evidence and a four-phase analytical framework, the book demonstrates that Portugal has experienced persistent forms of radicalisation, violent extremism and terrorism since 1974, though often reframed or obscured within national narratives. The volume traces the evolution of these phenomena from the revolutionary and counter-revolutionary violence of the post-Carnation Revolution period, through the identity-based and racist infra-political extremism of the 1990s, to the metapolitical and transnational dynamics of jihadist and far-right movements in the early 2000s, culminating in the hybrid and digitally driven forms of extremism evident since the mid-2010s.

This book will be of much interest to students of political violence, extremism, European history and International Relations.