Regimes of Contention in Southern Europe

Catalog description

This course takes Portugal, in the context of the southern European semi-periphery, as a case-study for exploring the contentious dynamics between institutions and movement actors from the 1960s onwards. The course is divided in three parts: (1) the research problems associated with this course; (2) Portugal’s semi-peripheral position; (3) social movements historical analysis in Portugal, considering the state-party-movement nexus, as well important critical junctures such as 1974 Revolution and the 2010 austerity period. Even though the course is to be taught chronologically for pedagogical reasons, in order to understand its historical evolution in a global context, students will be required to develop insights that cross the various topics under study. As such, this course will provide them with an in-depth reading and historical understanding of the Portuguese mobilizations from below in the European context.