The agitators of the Portuguese radical right

the leaders of Juventude Chega take the stage

Abstract

This article examines the rise of the Portuguese radical right through the leadership of Chega Youth (JCH) in the 2024 legislative elections, when the party elected 50 representatives. The research adopts a multiple methodological strategy, which includes: analysis of 484 publications on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube by three JCH deputies – Rita Matias, Madalena Cordeiro, and Daniel Teixeira – and party president André Ventura; interviews with deputies and JCH directors; and participant observation at the IV Political Summer Academy. Grounded in Critical Theory, the study identifies mass psychology techniques employed by these contemporary "agitators." Content analysis revealed five structuring semantic fields: anti-establishment, moral conservatism, nationalism, punitivism, and leader exaltation. The article demonstrates how these actors mobilize negative affects, construct simplifying antagonisms, and utilize conspiratorial narratives, strategically exploiting social media. It concludes that Chega's success articulates sophisticated propagandistic techniques with authentic social anxieties of Portuguese youth, related to labor precarization and lack of future prospects, configuring fertile ground for authoritarian discourses among new generations.

Keywords: Chega Youth; Radical Right; Electoral Propaganda; Social Media.