Coordenators:
Lucas Brasil [FEUC]
Otávio Raposo [CIES-Iscte]
Teresa Mora [CICS.NOVA.UMInho]
A comprehensive and integrated understanding of territories, cities, countryside and seas is essential to grasp the complexity of the contemporary world. It is within territories – in their plurality of geographies and populations – that the ways of life of human (and non-human) societies are inscribed. Cities, countryside and seas are, to varying degrees, shaped by an urban hegemony that global capitalism has generalised and neoliberalism has legitimized. Its impacts have produced new territorial asymmetries: property speculation, touristification, socio-spatial segregation, territorial stigmatisation, urban precarisation, the depopulation of rural areas, and the climate crisis affecting terrestrial and marine ecosystems. The deepening of multiple, intersecting crises – economic, geopolitical, environmental, democratic, mental health, and related to trust in science – exacerbates inequalities, increases vulnerabilities and raises questions about the very idea of the future. At the same time, practices of civic participation and political resistance are multiplying across different territorial contexts, promoting ideals and/or creating alternatives for social, cultural and environmental justice. In this context, the challenge facing Sociology in this Thematic Session is to conceive of territories as fields of analysis where inequalities and conflicts are inscribed, but also where possibilities for social transformation, the construction of new imaginaries, and the co-creation of sociological knowledge emerge.
Considering contemporary territories as a fundamental dimension of social life, we invite sociologists, social scientists and other scholars (academic and non-academic) to share the results of their research, as well as relevant professional experiences in the public sphere, including reflections on early stages of research. We also encourage the participation of students and early-career researchers, inviting them to submit proposals within the scope of this debate, as fairer futures depend on a new generation of social scientists.
This Thematic Section is open to a wide variety of topics and issues within the scope of the 14th Portuguese Congress of Sociology, under the theme “Futures Under Construction: Sociology in the Public Sphere”, and welcomes proposals for papers related to:
- Current trends and transformations in urban and rural areas;
- Urban, housing, inclusion and territorial management policies;
- Gentrification, touristification and the creative city;
- Creativity, aesthetics, artistic practices and urban cultures;
- Urban citizenship and the right to the city;
- Social and urban movements, resistance and activism;
- Mobility and urban sprawl;
- Delinquency and urban violence;
- Peripheries, territorial stigma and socio-spatial segregation;
- Poverty, homelessness and marginalisation;
- Migration, refugees and displacement;
- Climate and pandemic crises;
- Mega-events, festivals, and urban and rural rituals;
- Urban and community gardens, and agriculture;
- Forest, pastoral and maritime sustainability;
- Coastal cities, maritime labour and recreational uses;
- Policies for the planning and management of maritime territory and marine resources;
- Knowledge, landscapes and imaginaries of maritime culture.
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.
The Thematic Section will give preference to in-person presentations, while reserving some space for online presentations.
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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