e-JPH, Vol. 4, number 1, Summer 2006 On Communism and the Nation Notes from the History of the Colonial Questionin the Portuguese Communist Party Jos Manuel Viegas Neves nevesze@hotmail.com ISCTE Abst ract This article analyzes the positions adopted by the Portuguese Communist Party in relation to the colonial question.Before doing so, however, the article discusses the general problem of the nationalquestioninthehistoryofthe PCP,addressingsometopicsthatareimportantfora discussion of communist historiography.This discussion is part of a larger debate concerning the analytical identification between nation and culture, on the one hand, and between politics andpower,ontheother.Indealingwiththesedichotomies,sometopicsarepresentedfor discussion,relatingtostudiesonboththePortugueseEmpireandtheLeninisttheoryof imperialism. Keywor ds Nationalism, communism, internationalism, colonialism, historiography

1. Int roduct i on Towardtheendofthenineteenthcentury,thePortuguesekingDomLusfoundhimself sailing along PortugalsAtlantic coast. By chance,he andhis crew encountered a smallboat sailed byfishermen.ThekingspoketothemandaskediftheywerePortuguese,buttheyimmediately answered,No,we are fromPvoadoVarzim,whichwasat that time asmallfishingvillagenear Porto(Mattoso1998:14).Irecountthisbriefstorytoillustrateonebasicpoint:likeother countries, Portugal as an imagined community is a recent construct.As we all know, the process of imagininganationalcommunityisacomplexandcontroversialissuethatdividessocialscientists (Anderson1998;Smith1995).Nonetheless,therearesomepointsthatseemtobewidely accepted:statescreatenationsandnotthecontrary;nationsareamodernphenomenon,although wemaydiscussthepre-modernrootsofmodernnations;themainproducersoftheimagesofa Neves On Communism and the Nation e-JPH, Vol. 4, number 1, Summer 2006 2 nation are men from intellectual and political circles; the image of a nation requires an image of the past.ThestudyofPortugueseimagesofthepasthasflourishedinrecentyears.Aspost-modern theories have come to influence the national intelligentsia, the study of representations and imageshasbecome aproductivefieldinPortuguesesocialsciences,resultinginthepublication of importantstudiesonPortuguesecolonialistideology(Ribeiro2004;Alexandre2000;Castelo 1998).Unfortunately, the study of the socio-economic structures and dynamics of the Portuguese Empirehasbecome alesssignificant area forresearchers.InPortugal,we cansay that thestudyof representations no longer depends on the study of realities. Asweknow,neitherthefirstnorthesecondtypeoffocusshedsanylightonsucha concept as the truth.Consequently, it is important to note that the less we care about the history ofsocialdynamicslaborrelations,forexamplethemorepronewearetovaluecultural dynamics as isolated from socio-economic forces.The risks associated with an essentialist approach to culture are exacerbated whendiscussing, forinstance, the history of the Portugueselanguage. It is a risk that canperhapsbestbesummarizedin the idea of Lusofonia a concept that in a certain way develops the idea that a people owns a language, whichrestsupon a fetishistic approach to the language,andcollideswiththeprinciplethatalanguagebelongstothepersonwhousesitatthe moment when he or she chooses (Margarido 2000: 7).Whilethisarticlerecognizestheneedtostudythestone(takenhereasthefigurative expressionofreality),andnotmerelytheimageofthestone(i.e.,representations),thisarticle mostlydealswiththestudyof animageof thestone,animagewhichisnot theproduct of any hegemonicpoliticalpowerbutquitethecontrary:theimageproducedbythosewhowerenotin chargei.e.Portuguesecommunists.Nevertheless,thegenerallackofconsiderationforwhatwe maysimplycallsocio-economichistoricalitemsemerges,tosomeextent,asanintellectualbias even when writing the history of the communist policy on the colonial question.ThePortugueseCommunistParty(PCP)wasfoundedin1921,andunderwenta profoundreorganizationattheendofthe1920sandagainatthebeginningofthe1940s.This second reorganization effort was so decisive that we may say that the contemporary PCP emerged at precisely thatmoment.The central question that I amstudying inmy Ph.D.project concerns the relationshipbetween communism and nationalism in the partys history.One of the central issues guidingmeinthistaskispreciselytheapproachthatthepartyadoptedtowardthecolonial question.Ihavenotchosenthecolonialquestionrandomly,butbecauseofthestronglinkthat existsbetweennationalpoliticsandthecolonialquestionincontemporaryPortuguesethought. From the end of the nineteenth century until1974, almost all of the countrys political projects for regenerationinvolvedtheEmpireasacentralcomponent.Forrepublicansandfascistsalike,the Empirewasa way torecoverthenationslostglory.Assuch,we canhardlyspeak about anon-colonialist nationalism in Portugal1.WhileanalyzingthePCPspositionsonthecolonialquestion,Ifoundmyselfconfronted withthehistoricalviewsbroughttobearonthesepositions,andsoIendedupfirstaddressinga theoreticalproblem,whichIdiscussinthefirstpart of mytext.OnlyafterdiscussingitwillIbe able to draw any conclusions about the PCPs positions on the colonial question. 2. Ret hi nki ngAnt i-col onial is m: histor yvers us t henat ion 1 The clear exception comes from a non-nationalist political tradition for instance, the anarchist group brought together by the newspaper A Batalha during the 1920s (Castro and Garcia 1995). Neves On Communism and the Nation e-JPH, Vol. 4, number 1, Summer 2006 3 ThePCPshistoricalinvolvementwiththecolonialquestionisusuallysummarizedfrom oneoftwostandpoints.ThefirstdescribesthePCPsprogressiveevolutionfromaproto-colonialist to an anti-colonialist position.This is an idea that is present, to some extent, in the first historical analysis of the PCP and the colonial question, a chapter in an extremely originalbook by thehistorianJosFreireAntunes(Antunes1980:81).Thesecondperspectivehighlightsthe difficultiesinfindinganyradicaldifferencesinthecolonialpositionsof thePCPandthoseof the liberalsortherepublicans.Thisviewissustainedbythe twomajorworkspublishedonthePCP and the colonial question2: an article written by the Portuguese historian Joo Madeira and a Ph.D. thesis produced by the French historian Judith Manya (Madeira 2003; Manya 2004: 224).Indifferentways,theseviewsconcludethatthePCPregularlyrenouncedtheanti-colonialistprinciplestheoreticallymaintainedbyLeninistparties.Itisnotmypurposehereto countersuchassessments.Indeed,Madeira,ManyaandPereirasexcellentresearchmakestheir conclusionsappeartobe quitesolid.Nonetheless,Ibelieve that thePCPscolonialpolicycannot becompletelysummarizedbyanygeneralclaimthatthepartyhadaperpetuallyinstrumental attitude toward anti-colonialistvalues.There is at least one otherside to the story, whichIbelieve iscurrentlydevalued.Forustofacethishiddenfeatureofthequestion,itseemstomethatwe needtochangeourperspective.Mainly,weneedtore-establishthehistoricalautonomyofanti-colonialistprinciplesfromthequestfornationalindependenceamongcommunistpolitical cultures. Normallythequestfornationalindependencehasbeentheprincipalfactorinexplaining theexistenceofanti-colonialismamongPortuguesecommunists.Thisanalyticaloptionimplies twoassumptions:first,thatgreatervalueisgiventothenation-stateovercommunistcriticismof thepredominanteconomicandsocialrelations;second,thatthiscriticismconsequentlyis devalued.Theseassumptionsstructureourhistoricalunderstanding,makingussomehow reluctant to consider some important features of communist political cultures.Even if we take into accounttheprofoundnationalizationofcommunistpoliticalculturesinthe20thcentury,itstill remains clear that communistpolitical culture tends to give lessimportance to the nation-state and is more committed to socio-economic criticism. Asastartingpoint,IwilldescribethePCPsoverallapproachtothecolonialquestionin termsoftwogroupsofpositions.Thefirstconsistsofasetofpositionstowardthecolonial questionbasedonacriticismofthedynamicsofsocialandeconomicrelations.Thesecond consistsofpositionswhichareformedonthebasisof a questfornationalindependencea quest that couldbesatisfiedeitherintermsofPortuguesenationalindependence(thisidea wasinvoked whenaccusingSalazarandhisgovernmentofsellingthecoloniestotheimperialistpowers)orin terms of the right of African nationalist movements to independent nationhood.As times,both of these apparently contradictory nationalist demands seemed to co-exist in PCP policy.Historianstendtoignorethefirstpositiongroup.Theydevalueanapproachtothe colonial question grounded in social and economic criticism.It seems that they take it for granted, as if thesocio-economicperspective issomethingso abstractly and absolutely almostreligiously, 2 There is a recent work that also deserves our attention. It is a chapter from the last volume of Pacheco Pereiras biography of lvaro Cunhal, which has recently been published. In it, Pereira focuses mainly on the 1950s and the relationshipbetweenAfricanmilitantsandPortuguesecommunistmilitants,andheshowsthatheisnot particularlyconcernedwithsearchingthroughthehistoryofthePCPspositionsonthecolonialquestion. Pereiras viewpoints deal with theoretical issues that are different from those I discuss in this article. While some ofthemarequitesingular,others developissuesalreadydebatedbyManya. Pereiraaemphasisonthe African nationalist militants historical revision of communist militancy is quite interesting. Neves On Communism and the Nation e-JPH, Vol. 4, number 1, Summer 2006 4 Iwouldsaypresentincommunistpoliticalculturethatitdoesnotdeserveanyhistorical analysis.Inkeepingwiththisattitude,analysesquicklyconcludebysuggestingthatthePCPs positiononthecolonialquestionwas,aboveallelse,oneofignoranceorshowedalackofrespect fortheculturallife ofAfricanpeoples.Bylinkingtheconceptof cultureto thesphereofpolitics andnot to that of economics,theseviewsindirectlyreproduce andenhance one of thePCPsown approaches and tend to overlook or devalue another one.In other words, they end up considering thecolonialquestionfromthelogicofnationalistreasoning,referringeithertotheestablished imperialnationorapotentialinsurgentnation.Generalinterpretationstendtolimitcommunist history to one of two broad analytical frames: African national independence or Portuguese colonial nationalism.Followingsuchgeneralinterpretations,wecouldconcludethat thenationpersewas notaproblematicissueconfrontingcommunistpoliticalcultures;tosomeextent,communist political cultures unproblematically managed the idea of the nation.Underlying this whole problematic is the concept of culture.In part, what lies beneath the predominant,biasedinterpretationofthenationisadefinitionofculturethatisincreasingly restrictedtoanationalcommunityandtothestateform.Thepoliticalnationalizationofculture producessomethingthatmightbedescribedasthemilitarizationofculture,ortheideathat cultureisathingmorethanarelation,somethingthatneedstobedefendedandprotectedasthe homelandofsovereigntyandnationhood(Eagleton2003:84).Inshort,nationalheritageand not economic relations is the home of culture. Bypointingtotheanalytical/historicallackofawarenessoftheculturaldimensionof economic relations,I am not suggesting that the predominantlynationalist approach to culture can beexplainedentirelybythemisleadingnatureof analyticalinterpretations.Asignificantnumber ofthePCPsconsiderationsabouteconomicrelationsfavoredamaterialistapproach,onethat regularlyignoredthequalitative(cultural)dimensionofeconomics.Indeed,E.P.Thompsons concept of the moral economy as aimed againstbothliberal andsocialist intellectual andpolitical paradigmsshouldbeemphasized(Thompson1995).Nevertheless,at thispointIwouldlike to recall two general kinds of understanding of communist history: firstly, emphasisshouldbe given tothecloselinkbetweenacommunisttendencytowardsadoptinganamoralapproachto economicsandthenationalizationof communistpolitics(Szporluk1988);secondly,itshouldbe rememberedthatnationalizationneverbecame the exclusiveandabsolutepreserveof communists, even if we consider it to be a growing tendency in communist policy (Neves 2005).Bylinkingthesetwounderstandingsitbecomesclearerwhatisatstakeinsomehistorical judgmentsofcommunistcolonialpolicy:thetendencyforthesameperspectivesandcriteriato informanalytic/historicalinterpretationsandwhatbecamedominant(andthusvisible)political views.Inaparticularway,the transformationsbrought aboutbycommunist-dominatedpolitical cultures throughout the 1930s gave culture some of the organic properties commonly attributed to land:culturewasdefinedintermsofterritorialityandtookontheairofheritage.Havingbeen crystallizedinthisway,culturewasthendesocializedinordertobecomeanidentitywhose essentialcontentisnationality.Moregenerally,thetransformationsthattookplaceinpolitical cultures across the ideologicalspectrum in the period after the SecondWorldWar encouraged this nationalization of culture.Since then, when dealing with questions of politics and culture, we have all tended to see culturemainlyin terms of nationalpolitical frameworks and we havebeenunable toseecultureasbeingembodiedinmobileeconomicrelations.Weprefertolookforacultural dimensioninsidethenationandwithintheprinciplesonwhichthestateisbased,takingall economicdiscourseaspureeconomismandpromotingacommonsensedivisionbetweenculture and economy.Neves On Communism and the Nation e-JPH, Vol. 4, number 1, Summer 2006 5 Mostcertainly,wecanseethemarkofeconomisminthecommunistsattackson Portugalseconomicexploitationofthecolonies,butwecanalsoseeaconditioningmoral pressureinthePCPsanalysis.EvenwhenwedonotfindanydemandbythePCPfor independentstatehoodforPortugalsoverseascolonies,itissometimespossibletodetecta communist anti-colonialistfeelingandposition.Inasocio-economicreport on the1942famines inCape Verde that ishighly critical of the Empire, the PCPjournalistic organAvante! clearly calls uponcolonizedpeoplestoresistSalazarismbutnottofightfornationalindependence.The article concludesthat the faminesindisputablyshowthat onlyagovernmentfreelyelectedbythe people and interested in the solution of such problems willbe able to free them from the condition offamine andslaveryunderwhichtheystilllive.Andalthoughthereportignoresanyeventual struggle for national independence,Avante!stresses that the situationdemands that the Portuguese peopleshouldadheretoafundamentallyanti-colonialprinciple:apeoplethatoppressesanother people is not a free people3. 3. Si l ent Bonds : t heemer genceof nat ional is m Ourfirststepsledustoperceivethenationasaproblem,presentingachallengeto communistpolicies in terms of colonialpolicy. We were therefore encouraged to see the nation as aproblemdealtwithbycommunistsandbythepartiesoftheThirdInternationalinparticular.We can now take another step toward focusing on the history of such a problematic.Ifwedonotwishtobeastonishedbyfacts,perhapsweshouldbeginbyemphasizinga culturalbondthatunitesoppositepoliticalfactions,insteadofsimplytakingintodue considerationthemostglaringformsofculturalruptureandpoliticalextremity.Traditionally, communismhasbeenseenasaspecific kindof alienforce.InthePortuguese case,theimpetusto alienate ourselves from communism comes mainly from the rhetoric of political warfare see terms like agents of Stalin, delegates of Moscow, and faces of evil. It is important forus to confront thiskindofsloganinordertostatethatPortuguesecommunistswerenotsimplyorpurely communists.They were communists, but communists in a specific context.Whendiscussingtheformationofacommunist,wegenerallyclaimthatwhilehesurely sharedasetofcommonexperienceswithothers,therewassomethingdifferentabouthimthat turnedhimintoacommunist.Continuityandnotonlyrupturemustbetakeninto consideration.Considerthisfact,forinstance:someofthemajorPortuguesecommunistleaders camefromfamilieswithdirectpoliticallinkstotherepublicanmovementthatemergedatthe beginning of the20th century. Therepublican traditionmustsurelybe investigatedif one wants toanalyzePortuguesecommunismand,aboveall,thecommunistscolonialpolicies.Indeed, someofthecentralconceptsoftheEnlightenmentsuchastheideaofacivilizingprocess enteredPortuguesecommunismmainlyviaanationalliberaltradition.Butwemustadditionally notethattheMarxistmatrixpersealsocontributedtothePortuguesecommunistworldview throughitsprogressivism.SomeofMarxandEngelsstextsoncolonialandnationalquestions in which they express a number of culturalistviewsgiveusprecise anduseful examples.Let us simply follow Marxs well-known reasoning on the issue of British domination over India: India, then, could not escape the fate of being conquered [] Indian society has no history at all, at least no known history.What we call its history, isbut the history 3 As Belezas do Imprio Portugus A Fome em Cabo-Verde!. In Avante!, 19 October 1942, p. 2. Neves On Communism and the Nation e-JPH, Vol. 4, number 1, Summer 2006 6 ofthesuccessiveintruderswhofoundedtheirempiresonthepassivebasisofthat unresisting and unchanging society.4 As we can see from this example, we need tobroaden ourunderstanding of continuitybeyond the nationalcontexttoincludetheeffectsoftemporallimitations.Wenotonlyneedtoconsider continuityinchronological terms,butwemust alsobeaware ofitssynchronicdimension,so that wecanundercoverthebondbetweenthosewhoare,atacertainmoment,heavilyengagedina cultural war, fighting against each other for state political power and ideological hegemony.Such a bond was clearly established between Portuguese communists and the Estado Novo. Oneofthemajorbattlesofsuchculturalwars(Lebovics1992)regardedthesymbolic valueoftheruralworld.Indeed,theruralworldhasbeenaprincipalfieldfortheimaginative representation ofbattles in20th-century intellectuallife, from which Portuguese communists were certainlynotabsent.Despitethevalueattributedtomodernindustryandtothecauseofthe industrialproletariat,itwasmainlyfromthedepthsofinlandPortugal,fromtherural countryside,thatcommunistswereabletobuildtheirnationalimaginary.So-calledpopular culturewas,inmostcases,aresultoftheintellectualimageoftheruralworld.RuralPortugal, mainlytheAlentejo,thelandof theruralproletariat,wasseenasthelandwheretherealPortugal fermented.ThetruePortugalsuddenlyandsporadicallyappearedinnationalhistory, participatinginthegreat,epicrevolutionsofthepast,mostnotablyin1383,1820and1910, datesthatareanalyticallysynthesizedasmomentsofclassresistanceandnationalindependence (Neves 2004).Asweknow,definingnationalidentitythroughthedefinitionofpopularcultureand definingpopularculturethroughthedefinitionoftheruralcountryarewidespreadintellectual practices.Mostnation-buildingprocessesconfirmthis.ThemythofthesoldierChauvinis traditionallyseenasreactionary,thoughpoliticalfactionsadoptingnationalornationalistic discourse commonly invoke the idea of the landsregenerative capacity.In the literaryuniverse of Portuguesecommunism(whichwemayidentifywithneo-realism)thelandhaspowerfully utopianimplications.Itrepresentstheprincipleofwork,whichgenerateswealthandlife,anda lastsafehaven(thelastrefugeforthoselivingaclandestinelifeandthegatewaytoexile).Moreover,thelandservesasaguaranteeofstabilityagainstthedisorderofthecityandthe increasing spread of emigration. Itmightbesaidthatif,fortheEstadoNovo,ruralPortugalwasthehomelandofa Portugalthathadalwaysexistedandwasre-emergingafterthedefeatofliberalism,for communism,rural Portugal was thehome of the secret and clandestine Portugalstill waiting tobe releasedandasyetunrevealed,theplaceinwhichthefuturewasstored.(Leal2000).Inboth cases, the rural world is where the genuine country can be found.That is why we need to look at thecollaborativedimensionofintellectualconflictbetweentheelites,evenwhenthisconflictis painted,inpoliticalterms,asbeingblackagainstwhite,communismagainstfascism.As Bourdieuonceskepticallyclaimed,thefightforsymbolicpowerisaconflictthatexpresses differenceonlybecauseitdepartsfromarealityofcommonrepresentationinwhichconsensusis expressed (Bourdieu 2001:11).AllmannerofbondswereusedbyPortuguesecommunistswhentheyimaginedthe behaviorofthemultitudeandwhentheyrepresentedthepeopleinotherwords,whenthey invoked the concept of the people to refer to themultitude and imagined certain kinds ofpeople 4 Karl Marx, Os Resultados provveis do domnio britnico na ndia. In Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (1978), Sobre o Colonialismo, vol. I, Lisbon: Estampa, p. 97 Neves On Communism and the Nation e-JPH, Vol. 4, number 1, Summer 2006 7 whendescribingit.The notion that those living in Portugal were Portuguese was a cornerstone of thePortuguesecommunistpositionsonthecolonialquestion.Inconceptualterms,the communistsnationalizedthosewholivedinPortugaltermedthe people, asintherepublican narrativeandconsideredtheirnationalidentityonnumerousoccasionsasbeingmorepowerful than other factors ofmobilization,such as thosebased on class.The ideas that the masseshad a senseof theirownnationalidentity andthat theyviewedthe colonialquestioninthese termswere stronglyheldbythecommunistleadershipwhenimaginingtheso-calledpeople,thosewhose representation gave communist parties their raison dtre. 4. Power Games: Communist si magi ni ngnat ional is m NationalitywasnotanaxiomofMarxandEngelsstheoreticalwritings.This unimportance isusuallyseen as a lacuna or an error,but we should alsosee it as an option.Even ifhewasanavidsupporterofscientificanalysis,Marxguidedhisownstudyofrealitybyusing desires and aspirations as guiding categories. Besides this, from Marxsstandpoint the nation was not a neutral andunproblematic historical entity. It was thedebatebetween Rosa Luxemburg and Leninabouttherighttoself-determination,particularlythedefeatofLuxemburgsviewsthat paved the way for the de-problematization of the national question in communist political thought.Hence,fortheThirdInternational,thenationbecameaprogressivelymoreviablefieldofaction for communist politics.Thenationbecame adevice throughwhichcommunistswerenow actinguponthewhole ofreality,andthistransformedthecommunistsanti-colonialistposition.Thecolonialquestion begantobeformulatedlessandlessalongsidethenationalparadigmofpolitics.Episodically,we shouldnotforgettheimportanceofthedebatesintheCommunistInternationalontheChinese questiontowardtheendof1920.Butwecannowadvancealittlefurther,directingourselves towardthecoreofLeninismasacentraldoctrine.Progressively,thecentralLeninisttheoryof imperialismtookonmanifestimportanceasthedynamoofcommunistpoliticalthought.In conceivingpowerasbeingterritorializedandcentralizedatonemainpointthestateandthe nation-state itdirectlydeclared the occupation of state power as the objective. As we know, the agendaoftheinternationalcommunistmovementwasthereforeconstructedaroundtheaimof assumingstatepower.Powerwasmoreintenselyidentifiedwithstatepowerandtransforming powerrelationswasincreasinglyidentifiedwiththetaskofseizingstatepower.Theprofound impact of this conception of power is something that deserves close attention.Letusbrieflyexaminethecaseofclassstruggles:thenegativevalueorthesecondary importance attributedbymainlinepolitical communismanddominantMarxisthistoriographyto the so-called everyday forms of resistance(Scott1985) cannotbedisconnected from the growing analyticalidentificationbetweenpowerandpolitics,andbetweenpoliticalpowerandstatepower.Suchidentificationsoonprovedpractical,asitavoideddebatesonthehierarchicalnatureofthe stateformandtheauthoritarianismofnationalismasproblemsfacingcommunistmovements (Seth 1995).Itisobviouslyrathersimplistictoreducethecausesofsuchacomplexwebofhistorical featurestotheeffectsproducedbyapoliticaltheory,evenifthepoliticaltheoryinquestionisas symbolicandcompellingasLeninism.Anditistruethatbyre-readingLeninstheoryof imperialism,wecanseeatleasttwoavenuespinpointedastheroutesofcapitalistexpansion: territorial and extensive expansion, on the one hand; and intensive and relational expansion, on the other.Leninalsoconsideredinhisfundamentaltextonimperialismthatthepowerfunctionof Neves On Communism and the Nation e-JPH, Vol. 4, number 1, Summer 2006 8 theimperialiststatescouldbediminishedinthenottoodistantfuture(Leninsownrhetoric againstKautskyssuper-imperialisttheorysomehowskatesoverthispoint)5.Buttheprincipal developmentsof the Stalinistperiodclearlyemphasizedthe territorialline of analysisandpolitical orientation.Itisnotbyaccidentthatthedissidentwaysinwhichpowerwasconceivedinthe Marxisttraditionsomehow establishedthemselves,from thenon,against the Stalinistparadigm from the Frankfurt School to Antonio Gramsci, a hybrid case in which the concept of the national-popular was linked to the idea of counter-hegemony.Ingeneral,andfromtherootsup,communistpoliticalcriticsinviteusalltoseethe affective relationshipbetween economic andpolitical interestsinsociallife.The Leninist theory of imperialismsomehow developed thispoint analyticallyon a worldwidescale,but at the same time itstoodforastrategythatpromotedadistinctionbetweenthepoliticalandeconomiccentersof power.Andsotheimaginedcenterofpowerincreasinglybegantorestrictpoliticsto thenational territoryandinstitutions.Inthiswaypoliticsandnation-statesbecamethehomeofculture, instead of concerning themselves with economics and social relations.And politics,both instead of and apart from culture, became the major field for policy and strategy. The main consequence of this about-face was a reification of culture in national terms. This reificationsustainedastepped-timeframefortheconceptofdevelopedandunderdeveloped countries,favoringtheadoptionofaprogressivemodeloftimethatwouldgraduallybecome applicableonaworldwidescale.Consequently,weseetheadoptionofavanguardistnotionof primaryhistoricalactorsasresponsibleforsubmittingtheircountriestothevariousstagesof progressiveuniversaltime.Acountrysproximitytosocialismwascloselylinkedtoitsdegreeof industrialization,andtheimmanentquestforahigherqualityoflifewaslinkedtonational productivity.Economicandsocialstruggleswereincreasinglyseenasbeingpoliticallyinsufficient tobringaboutrevolution,asTrotskyhimselfregretted(Mandel1995).Classstruggleswereno longerseenasimmediatelycapableofaddressingneworcounter-hegemonicculturalexperiences.Ateleologicalconceptionofhistorybecameamainstayofcommunistthoughtandpolitics.In 1957,JaimeSerra,inhisaddresstothePCPs5thCongress,defendedachangeinthe communistposition on the colonial question,justifying hisviewbysaying that Africa had entered into the wheel of history6. 5. Nat ional is mas Ant i-col onial is m In1957,the5thCongressofthePCPapprovedtheAfricanpeoplesrighttonational self-determinationandmaintainedthatthetaskofPortuguesecommunistmilitantswasto contributetotheformationofmovementswhosefirstdutywouldbetofightfornational independence.ThepoliticaltaskwasnolongertodevelopmilitantsectionsofthePCPinthe colonies, a change that seriously weakened the idea that the independence of the coloniesdepended on the achievement of a democratic revolutionin themetropolis. As far as the colonial question is concerned,historiansofthePCPalmostuniversallyacknowledge1957asawatershedyear,with party history consequently divided into pre-1957 and post-1957 periods. 5 Old capitalism has finished. New capitalism is a moment of transition to something different. Vladimir Lenin (1981), O Imperialismo, Fase Superior do Capitalismo. In V. Lenin, Obras Escolhidas, 1, Moscow/Lisbon; Progresso/Avante, p. 609. 6 Jaime Serra, Sobre o problema das colnias interveno do Camarada Freitas (Jaime Serra). In V Congresso do PCP, 1957. Archive: Fundao Mrio Soares. Neves On Communism and the Nation e-JPH, Vol. 4, number 1, Summer 2006 9 Thehistoricalsignificancegivento1957isfair.Nonetheless,itleadstoatendencyto describetheprecedingperiodintermsofatimelineleadingfromproto-colonialistpositionsto anti-colonialistones,incorporatingtheambivalenceoftheprecedingandconsequentperiods.As farastheprecedingperiodisconcerned,weshouldnote that thesourcespresentlyavailablepoint toafarricherrealitythancouldbecontainedintheabovementionedlineardevelopment(Neves 2001). Indeed, we can find anti-colonialist statementsdating from the1920s,just as we can find communistproposalstosellthePortugueseEmpiretotheBritishinthesamedecade.Wecan findracialistdeclarationsinthe1940s,butwealsofindtheopposite.Wecanalsoseethatthe textsaddressedtoexternalaudienceselectoralmanifestosandotherpamphletsseemlessanti-colonialistthaninternaldocuments.Finally,recallingthetheoreticalproblemdebatedinthefirst partofthistext,wecanfindclearattacksoncapitalistsocialdominationoverAfricansinthe reporting of strikes and other paradigmatic aspects of proletarian life, and yet we can also find softer approaches that ignore certain aspects of Portuguese political domination over its colonies. Theseambivalenceswereexacerbatedbythecontradictorypressuresemanatingfromthe CommunistInternationalandfromthemoderatePortugueseantifascistopposition.But consideringtheaffectivelinksbetweenthePortuguesecommuniststypicalstrategywithregardto politicalalliancesandtheSovietstrategyforleadingtheThirdInternational,itishardtoseethe PCPsgreater attachment to anti-colonialistprinciplesas afunctionof thepartysdegree ofloyalty to theCommunistInternational and the USSR.Themajorpoliciesdefendedby theInternational in the1930s were indirectlybut consciouslyresponsible for adevaluation of anti-colonialism amongWestern communistparties,such as the PCP and the FrenchCommunist Party. In order to facilitate antifascist alliances,communistpartiessoftenedtheirpoliticalpositionsregardinganti-colonialism. Thedominantteleologicalconceptionofhistoryincommunistpoliticalculturesisatthe coreofsuchinstrumentaltacticsandiscloselyconnectedwithaprogressivevisionofsocial development andavanguardistconceptionofpolitics:thepartyguidessocialdevelopmentso that historycanbefullyrealized.InPortugal,toleadimpliedfightingforademocraticrevolution,a revolution that was not yet projected as apermanent one in the socialistsense.Making antifascist allianceswasthetacticalmovenecessaryforbringingaboutademocraticrevolution,andsoanti-colonialism andnationalismbecame tactical and instrumentaldevices, the firstbeingdevalued and the second given greater importance.Fromthe1930sonwards,patriotismprevailedasameansofachievinginternationalism.Fromthenon,itwasdifficulttodiscernanyrigorousoppositionbetweennationalismand internationalism.InthePortuguesecaseandourstudytellsusthatthefollowingconception mayalsobevalidinreferencetomostMarxist-Leninistparties,atleastinWesternEuropetwo opposingkindsofinternationalismconfrontedeachotherwithinthesamepoliticalculture:a nationalistinternationalismandananti-nationalistinternationalism,withthefirstbecoming increasinglydominantincommunistpoliticalcultures.Theinfluenceofthecommunistfronts strategiesadoptedinthe1930s,thedominantunderstandingofimperialismasanextensiveform of expansion in opposition to the understanding of imperialism as an intensive form of expansion, thenewworldorderoftheColdWarintroducedduringthesecondpostwarperiod,aswellasa numberofothertrends,arefactorsthatunderlietheformationofanationalistinternationalism, which in turn gave rise to national-colonialist and national anti-colonialist positions. Butanti-nationalistinternationalismnonethelessremainedalive,evenaftertheparty congress in 1957. Neves On Communism and the Nation e-JPH, Vol. 4, number 1, Summer 2006 10 6. Ant i-col onial is masAnt i-capital is m FranciscoMartinsRodriguesisnowthenametobearinmind.HewasanimportantPCP militant and a member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee in the early1960s.He was the first person to create a leftist split in the PCP. One of the centralrupturesbetween Rodrigues and the PCP concerned the different positions adopted with regard to the colonial question. Rodrigues criticismof theprevailingPCPpolicyplacedhiminasituationof extremepoliticaloppositionto lvaroCunhal.HestronglycriticizedRumoVitria,atextwrittenbyCunhalthatbecamethe main strategic and political reference for the PCP.In opposition to Cunhal, Rodrigues defended a concept of the social struggle that was incompatible with any nationalist political project, which ran countertooneoftheprincipalfeaturesofCunhalsownthought.Rodriguesdefendedasocio-economicbiasinoppositiontotheincreasinglynationalfocusofPCPpolicies.Onthecolonial question,Rodriguesdefendedtheprinciplethat themaindistinction tobemadewasnotbetween colonialismandfascism7.RatherforRodrigues,colonialismwasdirectlyconnectedto capitalism, which he considered mainly as a social and economic relationship.Politically,thischangeimpliedarejectionofanystrategicortacticalmovetoward establishingpoliticalallianceswithmoderatesectorsoftheopposition.Thishadconsequencesat twolevels.Inordertocombatcolonialism,itwasnotenoughtocombatfascism,firstlybecause colonialismwasoneofthebasicsupportsofPortuguesenationalismingeneral(notonlyof Portuguesefascistnationalism),andsecondlybecausecolonialismwasdirectlyconnectedtothe dynamicsofcapitalism(notonlywithnon-democraticcapitalistinterests).Thus,combating colonialismimpliedopposingrepublicansanddemocraticbourgeoisies,aswellasfascists.There could therefore be no alliance with democratic colonialists: To thosewho arguethat attackingrepublicancolonialismhelpsfascistpropaganda, wewillanswerthatconcealingthePortuguesecolonialistpastistoconcealitsvery natureandthatrevealingitmakesitpossibleforusto engageinadecisivecombat against it.8

Anti-colonialismimpliednotonlynationalself-determination,butalsosocialself-determination. Rodriguespositionmade him a radical critic ofCunhalsviews concerningrevolution in Portugal andinthecolonies.ThecasetobemadeindefenseofRodriguesisthathefoughtagainstthe prevailingunderstandingofimperialismasanextensiveformofexpansion,mobilizingsupport foranunderstandingofimperialismasanintensiveformofexpansion.Hisinspirationsurely camefromthegrowinginfluenceofMaoism.ButandthisiswhereRodriguescaseismore interestingsuchapositionwasonlypossibleforRodriguesbecauseofthefactasalong-time PCP militant, he was already under the influence of a socio-economic bias.Followingthispath,IshouldliketoconcludebylinkingthedebatewithinthePCPon thecolonialquestiontostudiesofthePortugueseEmpirecarriedoutinthesocialsciences.The point tobeprovocatively emphasized is that Rodriguesposition wasnot onlyrelevant in terms of thepoliticaldebatesthatitengendered.Analyticallyandhistorically,wecanfindinRodriguess position thebasis for thepresent-day consensus amongPortuguese social scientists working on the Empire:colonialismwasnotadirectproductoffascism,butithaditsrootsinthestrengthofa generalnationalistfeelingandinthegeneraldynamicsofglobalcapitalism.So,weendup returningtoouroriginalpointofdeparture,inwhichtheneedwasstressedforstudyingthe 7 Revoluo Popular edio completa 1964-65 (1975). Lisbon: Voz do Povo. 8 Idem, p. 143. Neves On Communism and the Nation e-JPH, Vol. 4, number 1, Summer 2006 11 PortugueseEmpirenotonlyinrelationtothesphereofrepresentationsandideas,butalsoin terms of economic and social relations. Bi bli ography Alexandre, Valentim (2000), Velho Brasil, Novas fricas Portugal e o Imprio (1808-1975). Porto: Afrontamento. Anderson, Benedict (1998 [1983]), Imagined Communities Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso. Antunes, Jos Freire (1981), O Imprio com ps de barro colonizao e descolonizao: as ideologias em Portugal. Lisbon: Dom Quixote. Bourdieu, Pierre (2001), O Poder Simblico. Lisbon: Difel. Castelo, Cludia (1998), O modo portugus de estar no mundo - o luso-tropicalismo e a ideologia colonial portuguesa (1933-1961). Porto: Afrontamento.Castro, Jos; Garcia, Jos Lus (1995), A Batalha e a questo colonial. Ler Histria, 27-28. Eagleton, Terry (2003), A ideia de cultura. Lisbon: Temas & Debates. Forgacs, David (2000), The Antonio Gramsci Reader selected writings 1916-1935. New York: New York University Press. Leal, Joo (2000), Etnografias Portuguesas (1870-1970). Lisbon: Dom Quixote. Lebovics, Herman (1992), True France The wars over cultural identity 1900-1945. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Madeira, Joo (2003), O PCP e a Questo Colonial - dos fins da guerra ao V Congresso (1943-1957). Estudos sobre o sculo XX, 3. Mandel, Ernest (1995), Trotsky as alternative. London: Verso. Manya, Judith (2004), Le Parti Communiste Portugais et la Question Coloniale 1921-1974 (Thse pour le doctorat en science politique). Bordeaux: 2004.Margarido, Alfredo (2000), A lusofonia e os lusfonos: novos mitos portugueses. Lisbon: Edies Universitrias Lusfonas.Mattoso, Jos (1998), A Identidade Nacional. Lisbon: Gradiva. Neves, Jos (2001), Comunismo, nacionalismo e colonialismo. Notas sobre o PCP de 1921 a 1957, typewritten manuscript, ISCTE. Neves, Jos (2005), lvaro Cunhal e o Princpio da Histria, Histria, 79. Ribeiro, Margarida Calafate (2004), Uma Histria de Regressos Imprio, Guerra Colonial e Ps-colonialismo. Porto: Afrontamento. Scott, James (1985), Weapons of the Weak Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance, New Haven/London: Yale University Press.Seth, Sanjay (1995), Marxist Theory and Nationalist Politics The Case of Colonial India. New Delhi: Sage Publications India. Smith, Anthony (1995), Gastronomy or geology? The role of nationalism in the reconstruction of nations. Nations and Nationalism, 1 (1). Szporluk, Roman (1988), Communism and nationalism Karl Marx versus Friedrich List. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Pereira, Jos Pacheco (2005), lvaro Cunhal Uma biografia poltica: O prisioneiro, vol. 3. Lisbon: Temas & Debates. Thompson, E. P., (1995), La economia moral revisada. In E.P. Thompson, Costumbres en Comn. Barcelona: Critica. Copyright 2006, ISSN 1645-6432-Vol.4, number 1, Summer 2006