Contemporary Portuguese Society

Recommended Prerequisites

N.A.

Teaching Methods

In the classes, the contents of the curricular unit will be presented and systematized, as well as the collective debate around the bibliography of the program. The theoretical and conceptual tools of sociology will be used in the framework of various transdisciplinary configurations. In addition to the compulsory reading texts, other materials, such as press texts, films or documentaries about contemporary Portugal, statistical data, etc. will be used. The course also includes student presentations on relevant topics within the context of the contemporary Portuguese society.

Learning Outcomes

Goals
a) to become aware of the main characteristics of contemporary Portuguese society, especially in relation to the last decades; b) to acquire a contextualized vision of Portuguese society, taking into account its transformations, recompositions and continuities in a historical and international perspective; c) familiarization with the interpretive theoretical frameworks of the evolution of Portuguese society and its current configuration.
Skills
a) to identify, explain and articulate the social, economic, political and cultural structures and processes of contemporary Portuguese society; b) to explain and articulate the changes and continuities that have taken place over time in Portuguese society and understand them in a comparative context at the international level, in general terms, articulating them with relevant SDGs and at European level in particular; c) to apply theoretical concepts and problems in the approach to multiple phenomena and dynamics of the Portuguese society.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

Insertion of Portuguese society in the world context of the nineteenth century to the present time: 1.1 From the structure of the old Portuguese society to contemporaneity; 1.2 From colonial Portugal to post-colonial Portugal; 1.3 The redefinition of the semiperipheral status of the Portuguese society; 1.4 The late and incomplete modernization processes of the Portuguese society; 2. Representations of the Portuguese society, collective memory and national identity; 3. Transformations, recompositions and inequalities in the Portuguese society: 3.1 demographic evolution and social dynamics; 3.2 Changes and continuities in social structures (socio-professional reconfigurations, social mobility and precariousness of life); 3.3 Gender social relations; 4. Private life and modernization processes: 4.1 Domestic and family daily; 4.2 Intimacy, sexuality and love relationships; 4.3 Sociabilities, leisure and new technologies.

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Oral Presentations : 20.0%
Mini Tests: 25.0%
Synthesis work: 25.0%
Research work: 30.0%

Bibliography

Calado, V. H., & Cunha, L. (2024). Modernidade e transformações no mundo rural do norte de Portugal: Terra, casa, mulheres e alimentos. Anuário Antropológico, 49(2).
Carmo, R. M. D., & Matias, A. R. (2019). As dimensões existenciais da precariedade: jovens trabalhadores e os seus modos de vida. Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais, (118), 53-78.

Ferreira, V. S.(2018) Youth and generations in times of crisis: Portugal in the global situation. In : Lobo, M. C., Silva, F. C. da, Zúquete, J. P. (Eds.)Changing societies: legacies and challenges. Citizenship in crisis Vol. 2, pp.135-160Imprensa de Ciências Sociais

Lima, R. (2025). Re-framing a semi-periphery: The making of Lisbon as a global real estate market. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 0308518X251318135.

Raposo, O., Alves, A. R., Varela, P., & Roldão, C. (2019). Negro drama. Racismo, segregação e violência policial nas periferias de Lisboa. Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais, (119), 5-28.