Inconvenient truths? Populist epistemology and the case of Portugal

For a long time considered as the European exception to the spreading of populism, Populism is rapidly recovering the lost ground, in both cultural and electoral terms: the populist party Chega is increasingly supported by the population, including specific sectors, such as the police, and populism is becoming normalized in the Portuguese political debate. In addition, Portugal is a country in which conspiracy theory rarely gains voice in the public sphere. Against this background, and in the frame of the scholarly discussion around populist epistemology, the chapter analyzes the Facebook group “Verdade Inconveniente” (Inconvenient truth), with a twofold aim. First, the study explores what are the inconvenient truths that the group feels the need to convey, highlighting the fields of actions and debate that the group deems relevant. Second, the analysis details the conception of truth, and its relations with politics and science, that emerges in the group discussions.