Lusotropicalism and Cosmopolis: The Imperial Nationalism of the Group Nova Portugalidade

This chapter is about a groupuscule that sets itself out of the ethnonationalist line. Indeed, the ideology of Nova Portugalidade (New Portugality) is profoundly connected to the lusotropicalist worldview that comes from Brazilian intellectual Gilberto Freyre. There, the Portuguese are seen as more prone to mix with non-Europeans than any other people of Europe. It was created in 2016 and dedicates itself basically to internet activism and the organization of conferences. In spite of the low number of members, it has almost 60000 subscribers on its Facebook page. It is also the most institutionalized from all the groupuscules studied in this book, having a more direct contact with intellectuals and researchers from the academic mainstream, especially in the field of History. Thus, Nova Portugalidade could be considered a kind of Think-tank. According to its founders, the organization’s first goal was to fight what was regarded to be “political correctness” and the wiping out of Portuguese history and heritage. Importantly, it is radically different from Escudo Identitário or Portugueses 1. The Imperial Patriotism of Nova Portugalidade wants Portugal to organize a Commonwealth, a single political unit, with the nations of its old Empire (Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, and East Timor).