Synopsis
This book depicts the significant and successful processes of change that Portugal has undergone in the last three decades. There has been political change, marked by the end of the forty-eight years of dictatorial rule and by the consolidation of democracy. There has also been a shift in Portugal's international relations, with the delayed collapse of its colonial empire and the country's integration into the European Union. Economic and social change have been important, too: Portugal has developed into a thoroughly modern country, with a deepened commitment to democracy and demonstrable self-confidence in a world of rapidly shifting political and economic alignments. Of interest to the general reader as well as the specialist, Modern Portugal is unique in providing a succint but penetrating analysis of contemporary Portugal. Essays written by eminent academics explore a wide spectrum of topics: the evolution and nature of Portuguese democracy, international relations, economic development, social change and the role of women, patterns of emigration, issues of cultural identity, and characteristics of twentieth-century Portuguese literature and art.
2nd Edition in paperback, 2000.
Portuguese and spanish version: António Costa Pinto (ed.), Portugal Contemporâneo, Madrid, Sequitur, 2000.