Scholars of the Portuguese empire often claim that Portuguese elites used myths and popular narratives to justify the expansion and maintenance of their Empire. Furthering our understanding of contemporary populism and based on Frédéric Lordon’s Imperium: Structures and Affects of Political Bodies (2022), João figueiredo argues that to understand the mechanics behind populist use of Portuguese colonial heritage, we should be paying attention to the emotional infrastructures of the State, and not to the ‘truth’ content of these myths.

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Original Contents by Centro de Estudos Sociais