On student movements in the decay of the Estado Novo

Abstract

Throughout the period of nearly two decades nicknamed the ‘long sixties’, youth practices and speeches obtained their own autonomy and frequently reached the top of radical criticism regarding the socio economic, cultural and political models that were in place. Mainly spreading from universities, these dynamics articulated themselves at certain times quite significantly with specificities according to each country’s own reality. This article intends to testify to the main characteristics of the student protests that took place in Portugal in the final years of the Estado Novo (New State, 1932–74) and also to note the distances and approaches between these student movements and those that were developing during that time in the democratic western countries.