Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T00:16:05.628Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Portuguese Road to Neoliberalism (1976–1989)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2021

Ricardo Noronha Open the ORCID record for Ricardo Noronha [Opens in a new window]
Ricardo Noronha*
Affiliation:
Colégio Almada Negreiros, Sala 327, Campus de Campolide da NOVA, 1099-085Lisbon, Portugal
*
ricardonoronha@fcsh.unl.pt
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Portuguese constitution, passed in April 1976, considered the nationalisations undertaken after the Carnation Revolution to be ‘irreversible’, prescribing a development model based on state planning. Changes made to the constitutional text, in 1989, allowed for a privatisation programme that curtailed government intervention and reinforced market provision. This mirrored a previous shift in the public sphere. Whereas political debate in 1976 was mostly centred on state-led development models, the next decade witnessed the rise of a pro-market approach. Two crises of the balance of payments encouraged a growing number of economists, businessmen, journalists and politicians to argue for the need to revise the constitution, enhancing the role and scope of markets. This article focuses on the rise of a neoliberal intellectual field in Portugal between 1976 and 1989, analysing its efforts to overcome the legacy of the Carnation Revolution and build a competitive market order in a semiperipheral context.

Type
Article
Information
Contemporary European History , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , February 2022 , pp. 113 - 128
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Noronha, Ricardo, ‘“The Most Revolutionary Law Ever Approved”: Social Conflict and State Economic Intervention during the Portuguese Revolution (1974–1975)’, in Trindade, Luís, ed., The Making of Modern Portugal (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013), 290–309Google Scholar.

2 Pinto, António Costa, ‘Constitution-making and the Democratization of Portugal: An Enduring Legacy’, Portuguese Studies, 34, 1 (2018), 35–51CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3 Maxwell, Kenneth, The Making of Portuguese Democracy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980), 33–7Google Scholar.

4 Krugman, Paul and de Macedo, Jorge Braga, ‘The Economic Consequences of the April 25th Revolution’, in de Macedo, Jorge Braga and Serfaty, Simon, eds., Portugal Since the Revolution: Economic and Political Perspectives (Boulder: Westview Press, 1981), 54Google Scholar.

5 Boaventura de Sousa Santos, ‘Estado e sociedade na semiperiferia do sistema mundial’, Análise Social, XXI, 87/88/89 (1985), 869–901.

6 Costa, Leonor Freire et al. , An Economic History of Portugal, 1143–2010 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016), 318–20CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Maravall, José Maria, Regimes, Politics and Markets: Democratization and Economic Change in Southern and Eastern Europe (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), 136–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7 Ringer, Fritz, ‘The Intellectual Field, Intellectual History, and the Sociology of Knowledge’, Theory and Society, 19, 3 (1990), 269–94CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

8 For a comprehensive overview of this area, see Damien Cahill et al., eds., The SAGE Handbook of Neoliberalism (Los Angeles: SAGE, 2018)

9 Venugopal, Rajesh, ‘Neoliberalism as Concept’, Economy and Society, 44, 2 (2015), 165–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

10 Brenner, Neil et al. , ‘Variegated Neoliberalization: Geographies, Modalities, Pathways’, Global Networks 10, 2 (2010), 182–222CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

11 Foucault, Michel, The Birth of Biopolitics: Lessons at the Collège de France 1978–1979 (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008)Google Scholar. See also Lemke, Thomas, ‘“The Birth of Bio-politics”: Michel Foucault's Lecture at the Collège de France on Neo-liberal Governmentality’, Economy and Society, 30, 2 (2001), 190–207CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

12 Mirowski, Philip and Plewhe, Dieter, eds., The Road from Mont Pèlerin (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009), 417–21CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

13 Slobodian, Quinn, Globalists. The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2018), 8CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

14 Duménil, Gérard and Lévy, Dominique, ‘The Neoliberal (Counter-) Revolution’, in Saad-Filho, Alfredo and Johnston, Deborah, eds., Neoliberalism – A Critical Reader (London: Pluto Press, 2005), 9–10Google Scholar.

15 Harvey, David, A Brief History of Neoliberalism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005) 13CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Boughton, James M., Silent Revolution: The International Monetary Fund 1979–1989 (Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund, 2001), 24–7Google Scholar.

16 Arrighi, Giovanni, ed., Semiperipheral Development – The Politics of Southern Europe in the Twentieth Century (London: SAGE, 1985)Google Scholar.

17 Pinto, António Costa and Teixeira, Nuno Severiano, eds., Southern Europe and the Making of the European Union, 1945–1980s (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002)Google Scholar.

18 Maravall, Regimes, Politics and Markets, 87–93.

19 Arminda Manuela António et al., O Sector empresarial do Estado em Portugal e nos países da CEE (Lisbon: Imprensa-Nacional Casa da Moeda, 1983), 178. See also Eric N. Baklanoff, ‘Breve experiência de socialismo em Portugal: o sector das empresas estatais’, Análise Social, XXXI, 138 (1996), 933–5.

20 Soares, Mário, A Europa connosco (Lisbon: Perspectivas & Realidades, 1976)Google Scholar; Maravall, Regimes, Politics and Markets, 99–101.

21 Conferência internacional sobre economia Portuguesa (Lisboa, 10 a 13 de Outubro de 1976). Vol. I (Lisbon: The German Marshall Fund of the United States/Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1977), 19.

22 Rudiger Dornbusch et al., ‘Analysis and Projections of Macroeconomic Conditions in Portugal’, in Conferência internacional sobre economia Portuguesa (Lisboa, 10 a 13 de Outubro de 1976). Vol. II (Lisbon: The German Marshall Fund of the United States/Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1977), 1189–235.

23 Paul Krugman would later recall his visit to Portugal in a post on his New York Times blog. Cf. Paul Krugman, ‘Portuguese Memories (Trivial and Personal)’, 27 May 2013, available at https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/27/portuguese-memories-trivial-and-personal/ (last visited 14 July 2020).

24 Andrew Abel et al., ‘A economia portuguesa: evolução recente e situação actual’, in Conferência internacional sobre economia Portuguesa (Lisboa, 10 a 13 de Outubro de 1976). Vol. I (Lisbon: The German Marshall Fund of the United States/Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1977), 34–91. (Author's translation from Portuguese).

25 Abel et al., ‘A economia portuguesa’, 42, 44.

26 Abel et al., ‘A economia portuguesa’, 62.

27 Programa do I Governo Constitucional (Lisbon: Secretaria de Estado da Comunicação Social, 1976)

28 Stuart Holland, ‘Comment on “A gestão do sector público produtivo”’, in Conferência internacional sobre economia Portuguesa (Lisboa, 10 a 13 de Outubro de 1976).Vol. II (Lisbon: The German Marshall Fund of the United States/Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1977), 723–4.

29 Maxwell Fry, ‘Financial Instruments and Markets’, in Conferência internacional sobre economia Portuguesa (Lisboa, 10 a 13 de Outubro de 1976). Vol. I (Lisbon: The German Marshall Fund of the United States/Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1977), 195.

30 Bela Balassa, ‘Industrial and Trade Policy in Portugal’, in Conferência internacional sobre economia Portuguesa (Lisboa, 10 a 13 de Outubro de 1976). Vol. I (Lisbon: The German Marshall Fund of the United States/Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1977), 223–52.

31 Bela Balassa, ‘Proposals for Economic Planning in Portugal’, Economia, II, 1 (1978), 117–24; Maxwell Fry, ‘Deposits and Deposit Rates of Interest’, Economia, II, 2 (1978), 261–84.

32 de Macedo, Jorge Braga, Interdependência económica, sistema monetário internacional e integração Portuguesa (Lisbon: Banco de Fomento Nacional, 1977)Google Scholar.

33 Jorge Braga de Macedo, ‘De Chicago ao FMI: A abordagem monetária à balança de pagamentos’, Economia, II, 1 (1978), 112–13. (Author's translation from Portuguese).

34 For a general overview of the topic, see Tobin, James, ‘The Monetarist Counter-Revolution Today: An Appraisal’, The Economic Journal, 91, 361 (1981), 29–42CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

35 Secretaria de Estado do Planeamento, Plano de Médio-Prazo 77/80. XI vols (Lisbon: SEP, 1977).

36 Fernandes, Filipe S., Memórias de economistas (Paço de Arcos: Exame, 2006), 130Google Scholar.

37 Rosa, Eugénio, O fracasso da política de direita – 16 meses de governo PS, (Lisbon: Seara Nova, 1978), 119–21Google Scholar.

38 Rudiger Dornbusch, ‘Portugal's Crawling Peg’, in John Williamson, ed., Exchange Rate Rules: The Theory, Performance and Prospects of the Crawling Peg (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1981), 247.

39 Horácio Piriquito, ed., FMI – Os acordos com Portugal: 1977–1983–1984 (Cartaxo: Deplano, 2011).

40 António de Sousa Franco, ‘A economia’, in António Reis, ed., Portugal: 20 anos de Democracia (Lisbon: Circulo de Leitores, 1996), 217.

41 de Brito, José Maria Brandão, ‘A economia: do Salazarismo à Comunidade Europeia’, in Pinto, António Costa, ed., Portugal contemporâneo (Madrid: Sequitur, 2000), 120Google Scholar; Corkill, David, The Portuguese Economy Since 1974 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993), 49Google Scholar.

42 Barbara Stallings, ‘Portugal and the IMF: The Political Economy of Stabilization’, in Jorge Braga de Macedo and Simon Serfaty, eds., Portugal since the Revolution: Economic and Political Perspectives (Boulder: Westview Press, 1981), 124.

43 Stallings, ‘Portugal and the IMF’, 130.

44 Fontenay, Patrick, ‘Comment’, in de Macedo, Jorge Braga and Serfaty, Simon, eds., Portugal since the Revolution: Economic and Political Perspectives (Boulder: Westview Press, 1981), 139–41Google Scholar.

45 Kouri, J. K., ‘Comments’, in de Macedo, Jorge Braga and Serfaty, Simon, eds., Portugal since the Revolution: Economic and Political Perspectives (Boulder: Westview Press, 1981), 143–52Google Scholar.

46 Maxwell Fry, ‘Money, Interest and Growth’, in 2ª Conferência Internacional sobre Economia Portuguesa (Lisbon: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian/The German Marshall Fund of the United States, 1980), 892–3.

47 Bela Balassa, ‘Portugal in the Face of the Common Market’, in 2ª Conferência Internacional sobre Economia Portuguesa. Vol. II (Lisbon: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian/The German Marshall Fund of the United States, 1980), 643–4.

48 Manuel Pinto Barbosa and Luís Miguel Beleza, ‘External Disequilibrium in Portugal: 1975–1978’, in 2ª Conferência Internacional sobre Economia Portuguesa. Vol. II (Lisbon: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian/The German Marshall Fund of the United States, 1980), 43–64.

49 Barbosa and Beleza, ‘External Disequilibrium’, 46.

50 Maria Teodoro Cardoso and Raymond Hill, ‘A moeda e o crédito em Portugal’, in Conferência internacional sobre economia Portuguesa. Vol. I (Lisboa, 10 a 13 de Outubro de 1976) (Lisbon: The German Marshall Fund of the United States/Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1977), 366–92.

51 Maria Teodoro Cardoso, ‘A política monetária e a balança de pagamentos – 1976/78’, in 2ª Conferência Internacional sobre Economia Portuguesa. Vol. II (Lisbon: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian/The German Marshall Fund of the United States, 1980), 73–99.

52 Maxwell Fry, ‘Comentário de Maxwell J. Fry’, in 2ª Conferência Internacional sobre Economia Portuguesa. Vol. II (Lisbon: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian/The German Marshall Fund of the United States, 1980), 113.

53 João Cravinho, ‘Portugal: um país em crise entre o “desplaneamento” e as políticas de estabilização’, in Manuela Silva et al., O Planeamento económico em Portugal: lições da experiência (Lisbon: Livraria Sá da Costa, 1984), 43–72.

54 For an overview of the Portuguese political system and its history, see Bruneau, Thomas, Political Parties and Democracy in Portugal: Organizations, Elections and Public Opinion (Oxford: Westview, 1997)Google Scholar.

55 Carneiro, Francisco Sá, Uma constituição para os anos 80. Contributo para um projecto de revisão (Lisbon: Dom Quixote, 1980), 73–6Google Scholar.

56 Confederação da Indústria Portuguesa, ‘Conclusões globais do II Congresso das Actividades Económicas’, Indústria, n.5, 52–56.

57 Pedro Ferraz da Costa, ‘Condições para o relançamento do investimento privado’, in II Congresso das Actividades Económicas. Sessões Plenárias. Conclusões (Lisbon: Confederação da Indústria Portuguesa/Confederação do Comércio Português/Conselho Nacional das Associações Empresariais, 1981), 93–104.

58 Jorge Braga de Macedo, ‘Dilemas da integração europeia’, in II Congresso das Actividades Económicas. Sessões Plenárias. Conclusões. (Lisbon: Confederação da Indústria Portuguesa/Confederação do Comércio Português/Conselho Nacional das Associações Empresariais, 1981), 59–80.

59 António Borges, ‘Concorrência e política de preços’, II Congresso das Actividades Económicas. Sessões Plenárias. Conclusões. (Lisbon: Confederação da Indústria Portuguesa/Confederação do Comércio Português/Conselho Nacional das Associações Empresariais, 1981), 185–96.

60 Silva, Aníbal Cavaco, Aníbal Cavaco Silva. Autobiografia Política. Vol. 1 (Lisbon: Círculo de Leitores, 2002), 49Google Scholar; Franco, ‘A economia’, 227–8.

61 Maria José Constâncio, ‘Evolução da política económica desde 1974’, in Vv.Aa., Evolução recente e perspectivas de transformação da economia portuguesa. Conferência realizada em 27, 28 e 29 de Abril 1983 (Lisbon: CISEP, 1983), 102–103; Álvaro Garrido, ‘Conjunturas políticas e economia’, in Pedro Lains and Álvaro Ferreira, eds., História económica de Portugal (1700–2000), Vol. III (Lisbon: ICS, 2005), 469.

62 Ana Bela Nunes, ‘The International Monetary Fund's Stand-by Arrangements with Portugal. An ex-ante Application of the Washington Consensus?’, in João Carlos Lopes et al., eds., Estudos de homenagem a João Ferreira do Amaral (Lisbon: Almedina, 2013), 166.

63 Franco, ‘A economia’, 237.

64 Viegas, José Leite, Nacionalizações e privatizações: elites e cultura política na história recente de Portugal (Oeiras: Celta, 1996), 187Google Scholar.

65 Programa do IX Governo Constitucional. Apresentação e debate (Lisbon: Assembleia da República, 1983), 27–8.

66 António Pinto Barbosa et al., A mão invisível. Colectânea de textos sobre Economia Portuguesa durante o ano de 1984 publicados no “Semanário” (Lisbon: Edipress, 1985).

67 de Ofir, Grupo, Objectivo 92 – No caminho da sociedade aberta (Lisbon: Grupo do Partido Popular Europeu, 1988), 9Google Scholar.

68 Programa do X Governo Constitucional. Apresentação e debate (Lisbon: Assembleia da República, 1986), 16.

69 Socialista, Partido, Dez anos para mudar Portugal. Proposta PS para os Anos 80 (Lisbon: Portugal Socialista, 1979)Google Scholar;

70 Constâncio, Vítor, Coerência e rigor (Lisbon: Dom Quixote, 1986), 131–9, 147Google Scholar.

71 Magalhães, José, Dicionário da Revisão Constitucional (Lisbon: Europa-América, 1989)Google Scholar.

72 Catroga, Eduardo, Política económica. 22 meses no Ministério da Economia (Lisbon: Ministério das Finanças, 1995), 277Google Scholar. See also Diogo de Lucena and António Sampaio e Mello, eds., Política económica para as privatizações em Portugal (Lisbon: Verbo, 1989).

73 Borges, António, ‘A economia portuguesa de 1985 a 1991 – Estabilização, crescimento, reformas estruturais e equidade’, in de Sousa, Marcelo Rebelo, ed., Portugal em mudança. Ensaios sobre a actividade do XI Governo Constitucional (Lisbon: Presidência do Conselho de Ministros, 1991), 39–104Google Scholar.

74 Rodrigues, João et al. , ‘Semi-peripheral Financialisation: The Case of Portugal’, Review of International Political Economy, 23, 3 (2016), 480–510CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

75 Brenner et al., ‘Variegated Neoliberalization’, 182.

76 The obvious comparison would be with Latin America. Cf. Pastor, Manuel Jr., ‘Latin America, the Debt Crisis, and the International Monetary Fund’, Latin American Perspectives, 16, 1 (1989), 79–110CrossRefGoogle Scholar. See also Boughton, IMF: The Silent Revolution, 359–414.

77 Slobodian, Globalists, 266–8.

78 Mirowski and Plehe, The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 430.