Portugal: The Impossible Revolution? - Softcover

Mailer, Phil

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1604863366 ISBN 13: 9781604863369

Publisher: PM Press, 2012

Synopsis

This is the story of the political revolution in Portugal between April 25, 1974, and November 25, 1975, as seen and felt by a deeply committed participant. After the military coup in Portugal on April 25, 1974, the overthrow of almost 50 years of fascist rule, and the end of three colonial wars, there followed a year and a half of intense, democratic social transformation that challenged every aspect of Portuguese society. What started as a military coup turned into a profound attempt at social change from the bottom up and became headlines on a daily basis in the world media. This personal history depicts the hopes, the tremendous enthusiasm, boundless energy, total commitment, released power, and revolutionary innocence of thousands of ordinary people taking a hand in the remolding of their lives. It does so against the background of an economic and social reality that placed limits on what could be done.

About this title

About the Author:

Phil Mailer is a political activist and the former editor of Combate. He lives in Lisbon, Portugal. Maurice Brinton was the pen name under which Chris Pallis wrote and translated for the British libertarian socialist group, Solidarity.

Review:

"A thorough delight as it moves from first person accounts of street demonstrations through intricate analyses of political movements. Mailer has handled masterfully the enormous cast of politicians, officers of the military peasant and workers councils, and a myriad of splinter parties, movements and caucuses."  —Choice

"Affords a good view of the mood of the time, of the multiplicity of leftist factions, and of the social problems that bedeviled the revolution."  —Fritz Stern, Foreign Affairs Magazine

“Mailer portrays history with the enthusiasm of a cheerleader, the 'home team' in this case being libertarian communism. Official documents, position papers and the pronouncements of the protagonists of this drama are mostly relegated to the appendices. The text itself recounts the activities of a host of worker, tenant, soldier and student committees as well as the author’s personal experiences.”  —Ian Wallace, Library Journal

“What did it all add up to? Was the 'Lisbon Commune' the real thing: a popular revolution arising from the masses without leaders or parties or vanguards? Phil Mailer claims that it was, or could have been. In a vigorous book that is part blow by blow account, part vivid eye-witness reporting and part unashamedly polemical analysis, he stresses what he sees as the revolution’s most important feature—ordinary people spontaneously taking power for themselves. He presents a wealth of fascinating detail about workers’ committees and peasant cooperatives which is a welcome antidote to the tiresome journalistic assumption of the time that without a tank, a bomb, or a dispossessed British businessman what happened in Portugal wasn’t worth talking about.” —Ben Pimlott, New Society

“What comes through is the joy, enthusiasm, and realism which contrast with the irrelevant manoeuvring of various political factions... One could quote endlessly from this interesting book. I hope much of the revolutionary left will read it. Many anarchists could also think about many of its implications. For people need to eat, to have shelter, before, after and during a revolution and you cannot eat slogans or wear ideologies.” —Alan Albon, Freedom

About this edition

• Publisher: PM Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1604863366
• ISBN 13: 9781604863369
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 288