Violent Extremism in Contemporary Portugal: A Mild-Mannered Country? (Political Violence)

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 metapolit