Migrations and exiles: identities and nationalism

Abstract

Among the hallmarks of the 20th century were the rise of authoritarian regimes, which reformulated the ideals of nation and citizenship, and the consequent flow of exiles fleeing political persecution. The need for international endorsement led fascist countries, such as Salazar’s New State, to look for supporters in their own colonies, thus redefining their emigrants’ status according to their ideology. Exiles, on the other hand, were stripped of their citizenship and deprived of their condition of belonging to their nation’s new makeup. This article provides a brief analysis of how the concepts of citizenship and nationalism were used in Portugal under the Salazar’s regime, considering the cases of emigrants and Portuguese exiles in Brazil.