Emigrate “to make life better” in Vale do Ave (1960s-1970s): economy, value and time

Abstract

This paper aims to understand the meaning of the expression “making life better” in an industrialized region of Vale do Ave, considering the changes during the 1960s-1970s in Portugal and in the long term. It addresses, particularly, the expectations of improvement in living conditions that this expression condenses, conveying ideas about the future, against a past in which life “didn’t run forward”, and a life in which one has “always worked” to “keep earning a living”. It is argued that the “work” implied in this expression reflects a tension between the need to “making a living” and the aspirations towards a “good life”, articulating economy, value and time.