Portugal: The Crisis and New Actors Against Austerity

Between 2011 and 2013, Portugal saw a surge in independent, non-partisan social movements such as Geração à Rasca and Que se Lixe a Troika!, which mobilised hundreds of thousands against austerity and precarious work. However, by 2014, these broad civil society projects declined, with social mobilisation returning to the control of traditional trade unions and left-wing political parties.

• The arrival of the Troika (European Commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund) in 2011 led to a programme of structural reforms and austerity, including tax increases and cuts to healthcare, education, unemployment benefits, and public sector incomes.
• The Geração à Rasca protest on March 12, 2011, marked a structural shift in Portuguese mobilisation by breaking the trade unions' monopoly on organising large public protests, attracting over 200,000 participants.
• The group Que se Lixe a Troika! (QSLT) organised the largest demonstration in Portuguese history on September 15, 2012, with more than 500,000 people protesting in Lisbon and other cities.
• Precários Inflexíveis (PI) has maintained long-term activism since 2007, focusing on labour market precariousness, ecological policies, and animal rights, while acting as a bridge between social networks and left-wing parties like Bloco de Esquerda.
• By 2014, broad civil society mobilisation declined due to a lack of political consequences and a societal resistance to new forms of activism, leaving trade unions as the primary organisers of profession-specific protests.

APA

Duarte, B. B. M. C. (2015). Portugal: The Crisis and New Actors Against Austerity. Green European Journal. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/portugal-the-crisis-and-new-actors-against-austerity/

Chicago

Duarte, Britta Baumgarten, Mariana Carmo. Portugal: The Crisis and New Actors Against Austerity. Green European Journal, 2015. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/portugal-the-crisis-and-new-actors-against-austerity/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Duarte |first1=Britta Baumgarten, Mariana Carmo |title=Portugal: The Crisis and New Actors Against Austerity |publisher=Green European Journal |date=1 September 2015 |url=https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/portugal-the-crisis-and-new-actors-against-austerity/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{duarte2015portugal, author = {Duarte, Britta Baumgarten, Mariana Carmo}, title = {{Portugal: The Crisis and New Actors Against Austerity}}, institution = {Green European Journal}, year = {2015}, month = sep, url = {https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/portugal-the-crisis-and-new-actors-against-austerity/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }