Long Reads: Portugal’s Left in Retreat w/ Catarina Príncipe (Part 1)

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Sep 19, 2025

Catarina Príncipe, a contributing editor for Jacobin and co-editor of Europe in Revolt, dives into the tumultuous decade of Portuguese politics. She analyzes the impact of Troika austerity and the formation of the 2015 'contraption' government that initially brought the left together. Príncipe discusses the ups and downs of the Costa administration, including modest gains against a backdrop of stagnation for radical left parties. She also examines the withdrawal of support from the left and the resurgence of social movements in response to pressing issues like housing and anti-racism.

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INSIGHT

Austerity Tore Portugal's Social Fabric

The Troika-era austerity produced deep impoverishment, rising unemployment, privatizations, and labor devaluation across Portugal.
Catarina Príncipe argues these policies tore social fabric and increased household dependency, fueling conservative social dynamics.

INSIGHT

Short Wins, Deferred Structural Debates

The 2015 left agreement gave concrete short-term gains but deferred core structural issues to ineffective working groups.
Príncipe says those postponed debates (labor law, debt, public ownership) never advanced across the four years.

INSIGHT

ECB Support Distinctly Helped Portugal

Portugal benefited from ECB policies like the public sector purchase program that Greece was denied, easing its bailout path.
Príncipe argues those external supports made Portugal's crisis less acute than Greece's, shaping political outcomes.

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Long Reads spoke to Yanis Varoufakis earlier in the year to mark the tenth anniversary of the Greek referendum on the austerity programs of the European Union. This week, we’re going to be looking at another country that bore the brunt of Euro-austerity after the 2008 crash.

Ten years ago, the Portuguese Socialist leader Antonio Costa formed a government with the support of two radical-left parties, the Left Bloc and the Communist Party. Costa’s government appeared to be a success story for the European center left at a time when most of its parties were losing ground. Portugal also stood out as one of the few West European countries where the far right was still a marginal force.

Costa’s party increased their vote share in 2019 and he remained in office. In the election of 2022, the Portuguese Socialists even won an absolute majority. But Costa resigned as prime minister two years later and his party lost power after the fourth general election in less than a decade.

Another general election this year was a disaster for the Socialist Party and the radical left. With just over 20 percent of the vote, the Socialists were now on a level footing with the far-right party Chega. The combined vote share for the Left Bloc and the Communist Party was less than a third of the figure from 2015.

Our guest today for a conversation about the last decade of Portuguese politics is Catarina Príncipe. Catarina is a contributing editor for Jacobin and she co-edited the book Europe in Revolt. She’s also a member of the Left Bloc.

This week’s episode is the first of a two-part interview. Today we’re going to cover the period from 2015 until the general election in 2022.

Listen to the second part here: https://apple.co/46z7qmw

Read Catarina’s article “How Portugal’s Right Won the Election” here: https://jacobin.com/2024/03/portugal-right-wing-chega-election

Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s longform writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies with music by Knxwledge.