Agriculture and the land question - from the New State to the European Community

Abstract

This articles examines the relations between economic, social and political developments in Portuguese society in the last four decades, and the changes which have occurred in agriculture and the question of land. The situation in the 1950's is taken as the starting point, with three subsequent periods being considered: 1960-1974 (the decline of agricultural and rural Portugal), 1974-1976 (when land was at the centre of political debate), and the following years, during which Portugal joined the European Community.