Coordinators:
Sofia Gaspar [CIES-Iscte]
Carlos Nolasco [CES/UC]
Nuno Oliveira [CIES-Iscte]
In a period of contemporary history in which mobility has become an integral part of individuals’ social, family and professional trajectories, one of the main challenges facing sociology is to think critically about migration in articulation with processes of ethnicisation, racialisation and the production of inequalities. Human migration constitutes one of the central axes of contemporary social dynamics, crossing physical and symbolic borders and calling into question hegemonic models of belonging, citizenship and identity.
Migratory experiences are profoundly shaped by power relations that are expressed through ethnicity, racism, racial discrimination and other forms of social exclusion, frequently reinforced by public and media discourses. Concepts such as integration, ethnic minoritisation, immigration, migrants’ rights, xenophobia, structural racism and postcolonialism today occupy a central place in public and political debate, often associated with polarised, stereotyped or securitised narratives.
In this sense, migration challenges methodological nationalism and requires critical, intersectional and transnational sociological approaches capable of understanding how migratory processes are articulated with regimes of racialisation, the production of otherness and social hierarchies in different national and supranational contexts.
In the current context of the repoliticisation of migration and the resurgence of populist and racialising discourses, migrants and racialised populations are frequently mobilised as symbolic categories in public debate, contributing to the normalisation of explicit and subtle forms of racism and exclusion. Within this framework, Sociology plays a fundamental role in the critical problematisation of dominant discourses, through the production of empirically grounded knowledge with social relevance, capable of dialoguing with and challenging the public sphere. Through sociological research on migration, ethnicity and racism, it becomes possible to counter superficial and stereotyped readings of social reality, producing empirically robust and publicly relevant knowledge.
In articulation with the theme of the XIV Portuguese Congress of Sociology — “Futures Under Construction: Sociology in the Public Sphere” — this thematic section invites the submission of papers that analyse migration as a structuring phenomenon of contemporary societies, paying particular attention to its implications for the (re)production of ethnoracial inequalities, for the quality of democracy and for the collective construction of fairer, more inclusive and more plural futures.
Proposals are welcome that explore, among others, the following thematic axes:
- Contemporary international migration and regimes of racialisation
- Migration, ethnicity and the construction of otherness
- Migration, racism(s) and racial discrimination
- Migration and Digital Governance
- Climate Migration and Environmental Racism
- Emigration and immigration in Portugal: ethnoracial dynamics
- Migration, gender and intersectionality
- Refugees, asylum and the racialisation of international protection
- Migration, the media, public discourse and the production of stigma
- The politicisation of migration, populism and racism
- Postcolonial migration and colonial legacies
- Ethnicity/ethnicities, identity/identities and transnational belongings
- Xenophobia, institutional racism and symbolic violence
- Migration, citizenship and differentiated exclusions
- Transnationalism, diasporas and racial identities
We invite the submission of abstract proposals based on academic and non-academic research, including empirical work, theoretical and methodological contributions, as well as reports of professional experiences.
Proposals, in addition to theoretical essays, must be formulated presenting their theoretical framework, objectives, methodologies used, results and conclusions.
Professional contributions can take the form of experience reports, including context, objectives, actors involved, methodologies, activities developed, and key learnings.
Proposals must be submitted via the personal area by the deadline specified in the submission guidelines.
Proposals may be submitted in Portuguese, English, Spanish or French.
The maximum length of the abstract is 2,500 characters (excluding spaces).
Evaluation will consider the clarity of objectives, methodological adequacy, relevance of results, and the overall quality of the proposal.
The Congress will take place in person at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Algarve, in Faro, from 23 to 25 March 2027, and may include online sessions on 22 March. At the time of submission, authors must indicate whether they intend to participate in person or online.
All the authors will be invited to submit the full papers for publication in the Congress Proceedings.
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