Escudo Identitário: The Attempt to Create the Equivalent of Casa Pound Italia in Portugal

Abstract

This chapter is about Escudo Identitário (Identitarian Shield), which has a theoretical and ideological frame, as well as a repertoire of actions very close to the identitarian movements across Europe. Founded in 2017, Escudo Identitário could be described as the Portuguese equivalent of Italian Casa Pound. It emerged as an overtly ethnonationalist grouping, regarding Portugal as exclusively European and aiming at the insertion of Portugal in the European continent. This groupuscule tries to be present both in the internet and in the streets, although their online activities are clearly more pronounced. Some street actions follow the French and German identitarians, such as putting bands with anti-immigration messages in historical sites and public spaces. Similar to Portugueses 1, the number of supporters present in the manifestations is extremely low. Escudo Identitário also proposes a very varied literature, which oscillates between Portuguese history, identitarian literature, Nouvelle Droite style literature, and Portuguese far-right writers from the first half of the XX century. The groupuscule uses biological metaphors, although its literature recommendations are not centered on the biological, genetic and behavioral studies from which the American Alt-right draws its main theoretical fundaments. Escudo Identitário obviously regards the Portuguese and Europeans as a white people, but does not utilize mostly the theories from biological racialism.