Portuguese Nationalistic Rhetoric: Stage Left

This paper focuses on the extreme-left’s nationalistic rhetoric in Portugal. The nationalistic emphasis in this paper is not based on minority nationalist tendencies, given that Portugal is substantially homogeneous in ethnicity, but instead on nationalist arguments that emphasize the interests of the Portuguese rather than global capitalist interests or regional integration such as the European Union. The emphasis is on the Portuguese Communist Party’s (PCP) historical nationalistic rhetoric, regularly seen in its Euroscepticism. The PCP is interesting given its historically strong nationalist rhetoric despite its Marxist internationalism. Arguments presented by the left libertarian Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda) will also be analyzed.