Anarchism and anticolonialism in Portugal (1919-1926): Mário Domingues, A Batalha and black internationalism

This article evaluates the nature and resonance of the writings of the Príncipe-born journalist Mário Domingues. Domingues published numerous articles in the Portuguese anarcho-syndicalist daily newspaper A Batalha between 1919 and 1923 on colonialism as part of a programme of anticolonial and anti-capitalist struggle that was the earliest and most substantial campaign of the time. The contents of his work are analysed and the connections that he and A Batalha forged with black African organizations in Lisbon are assessed. It is argued that Domingues’ work represents an alternative to both nation-centred and Marxist-oriented programmes of anticolonialism and its study aids in the reconstruction of the contours of a radical and active “Black Lisbon” of the late 1910s and early 1920s in Portugal and sheds new light on the associational culture of black political struggles during the period.