From capitalist exploitation to socio-environmental sustainability: the language of the portuguese left in the years of the carnation revolution

This study examines the evolution of the economic and political language of the Portuguese left during the Carnation Revolution (Revolução dos Cravos, 1974-1975), focusing on the concepts of capitalist exploitation and socio-environmental sustainability. Through the analysis of the Cadernos Dom Quixote, a publishing series that disseminated Marxist and progressive ideas in Portugal between the last years of the Estado Novo dictatorship and the first years of democracy, the role of translations of Italian and French texts in the construction of the political discourse of the left is highlighted. The article focuses on the dissemination of ecological terminology and its integration into the political and social debate of the time. The analysis of keywords and recurrent terms in the translated texts shows how environmental language was closely linked to a radical critique of capitalism, seen as the main culprit of ecological degradation. Concepts such as ‘antipoluição’, ‘subdesenvolvimento’ and ‘limites ao crescimento’ emerge as central to the discourse of the revolutionary Portuguese left. The research also highlights how environmental protection policies were perceived as tools of capital to consolidate its power, rather than as real solutions to the ecological crisis. Furthermore, the debate on ecology was part of a broader vision of social transformation, with the goal of a new democratic and socialist model of development. Finally, the paper shows how the linguistic and terminological choices adopted in the translations helped shape the environmental debate in democratic Portugal, leaving a legacy that is still relevant in contemporary discussions on sustainability and social justice