
CALL FOR COMMUNICATIONS
Submission Deadline: September 30, 2025
The Portuguese Association of Political Economy (EcPol) launches the call for papers for its
9 th yearly meeting, which will take place at the Instituto de Sociologia, Universidade do Porto
and the Católica Porto Business School, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, on January 29-
31, 2026, with the topic Fundamental rights, well-being and quality of life.
The meeting aims to bring together all those who, from the most diverse disciplinary fields
and approaches, understand economic phenomena as being eminently shaped by social,
political, philosophical, legal, cultural, technological and ecological factors. These factors
should be studied within their institutional, historical, and geographical contexts.
The meeting, which will start on January 29, 2026, will include the EcPol winter school,
where guest experts will stimulate discussions on the doctoral projects presented by the
students.
PRESENTATION
The topic for the 2026 meeting recalls the 50th anniversary of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, approved in 1976, which has established rights, freedoms and protections, as well as economic, social and cultural rights and duties.
The scientific literature that has analysed the evolution of wellbeing and quality of life has highlighted that progresses in these fields are neither certain nor homogeneous. For instance, in the wealthiest countries, the quality of life for people has not kept pace with the growth of national income. At the global scale, we are witnessing a critical moment, in which basic rights are being weakened, with significant changes in the approach of countries that have signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, democratic involution in several countries, unprecedented concentrations of wealth and increase of economic inequality, among other concerning trends.
Political economy addresses these phenomena in their substantive, plural and multifaceted dimensions, rejecting simplistic, reductionist and determinist understandings; rather understanding economic science, and its links with close disciplinary fields, as a means to achieve different goals – namely, justice and environmental and social sustainability – rather than goals in themselves.
The meeting thus calls for scholars and professionals from different backgrounds and disciplines to reflect: on patterns and dynamics of evolution of fundamental rights, and the implementation of social, economic, cultural and environmental rights in the promotion of wellbeing and quality of life, in Portugal and beyond; and on the ways to act, across economy, society, culture and politics, at multiple institutional levels in order to make rights more than simple declarations, to expand and strengthen quality of life, and to widen democratic imaginaries, expectations and experiences.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Carlos Manuel Gonçalves
Presidente do Encontro
FLUP
More Keynote speakers to be announced soon
SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS
We welcome proposals for panels from researchers, thematic sections or regional groups, as well as communications on the following topics, among others:
Economics of human rights
Economics of happiness
Patterns and dynamics of wellbeing, quality of life and development
History and political economy of rights
Ontological dimensions of wellbeing
Economic, environmental and social sustainability
Capitalist transformations and alternative economic models
Financialisation, digitalisation, wellbeing and fundamental rights
Evolution of the Portuguese Constitution
Territorial inequalities and asymmetries in wellbeing and human rights
Philosophy of wellbeing and basic rights
Geopolitics of innovation and technological dependency
AI and patterns of labour with meaning
Dignity in labour and the future of labour
Technology, inequality and social inclusion
Welfare state and provision of fundamental rights
Political economy of care, social economy, solidarity economy and other economic approaches
Trade unions, cooperatives and social movements
Political economy of peripheralization and coloniality
Methodological pluralism and teaching pedadogy
Proposals may be submitted for:
1) Communications;
2) Communications to panels organised by EcPol’s thematic sections:
-
Comparative Political (more informativo here);
-
Political Economy of Science and Technology, in collaboration with the Thematic Section of Knowledge, Science and Technology of the Portuguese Association of Sociology (more information here);
-
Philosophy and History of Political Economy (more information here);
-
Political Economy of Territory (more information here);
-
Labour, Social Welfare and Inequalities (more information here);
3) Painéis temáticos livres, compostos por 3 ou 4 comunicações.
3) Free thematic panels consisting of 3 or 4 papers.
Communications relating to doctoral thesis projects should preferably be presented at the Winter School.
Proposals must be submitted in the language of the communications, with the option of Portuguese, Spanish or English.
Proposals for papers and thesis projects must contain the following information:
i) Title;
ii) Type of proposal (paper, thesis project);
iii) Name, institutional affiliation and e-mail address of the proposer(s);
iv) Abstract and 4 keywords (max. 400 words).
Panel proposals must contain the following information:
i) Session title;
ii) Summary of the session (max. 200 words);
iii) Name, institutional affiliation and e-mail address of the panel proposer(s) and participants;
iv) Title, abstract and keywords (max. 400 words) of the papers included.
SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS
Proposals for papers and thesis projects should be submitted using the form at https://forms.gle/AGUmoqp3Fn3dhG2Y7
Papers to be included in the panels organised by EcPol thematic sections should be submitted by e-mail:
-
Comparative Political Economy: luis.mah@iscte-iul.pt and luispaisbernardo@gmail.com;
-
Political Economy of Science and Technology: jlgarcia@ics.ulisboa.pt, bela.irina.castro@gmail.com and conhecimento@aps.pt;
-
Philosophy and History of Political Economy: pedro.teixeira@cmb.hu-berlin.de and jbateira@hotmail.com;
-
Political Economy of Territory: paulo.madeira@edu.ulisboa.pt and carlos.goncalves@uevora.pt;
-
Labour, Social Welfare and Inequalities: jloureiro3@gmail.com.
Proposals for free thematic panels should be submitted via email: 9encontroecpol@gmail.com
REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION FEES
- EcPol members (2025 membership fee up to date) | Without Institutional Support
Until November 30, 2025: 75 euros (includes 2026 membership fee)
Until December 20, 2025: 90 euros (including 2026 membership fee)
- EcPol members (2025 membership fee up to date) | With Institutional Support
Until November 30, 2025: 100 euros (includes 2026 membership fee)
Until December 20, 2025: 115 euros (includes 2026 membership fee)
- Students with institutional support
Until November 30, 2025: 50 euros (includes 2026 membership fee)
Until December 20, 2025: 65 euros (includes 2026 membership fee)
- Students without institutional support and unemployed
Until November 30, 2025: 30 euros (includes 2026 membership fee)
Until December 20, 2025: 45 euros (including 2026 membership fee)
- Other Non-members with Institutional support
Until November 30, 2025: 110 euros (includes 2026 membership fee)
Until December 20, 2025: 125 euros (includes 2026 membership fee)
- Other non-members | No Institutional Support
Until November 30, 2025: 95 euros (includes 2026 membership fee)
Until December 20, 2025: 110 euros (includes 2026 membership fee)
- The conference dinner will take place on january 30
IMPORTANT DATES
October 31, 2025
Deadline for thesis project proposals
November 10, 2025
Notification of acceptance of proposals
November 30, 2025
Registration for the Meeting and/or Winter School
December 20, 2025
Late registration for the Meeting and payment and Registration for the Winter
School
PROGRAMME
More information coming soon

WINTER SCHOOL
more information soon
ADDRESS
Contacto: 9encontroecpol@gmail.com
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Ana Costa (Iscte)
Ana Teresa Ribeiro (Faculdade de Direito - UCP Porto)
Aurora Teixeira (FEP)
Catarina de Oliveira Carvalho (Faculdade de Direito - UCP Porto)
Eduarda Gonçalves (Iscte)
Fabio Bertoni (ICS-ULisboa)
Francisco Louçã (ISEG-ULisboa)
Irene Peano (ICS-ULisboa)
João Teixeira Lopes (FLUP)
Jorge Malheiros (IGOT-ULisboa)
José Reis (FEUC)
Leonida Correia (UTAD)
Liliana Fernandes (Católica Porto Business School)
Luisa Veloso (Iscte)
Manuel Couret Branco (Universidade de Évora)
Nuno Ornelas Martins (Católica Porto Business School)
Pierre Guibentif (Iscte)
Tiago Carvalho (Iscte)
Virgílio Borges Pereira (FLUP)
ORGANISING COMMITTEE
Amarílis Felizes,
Cláudia Amador
Conceição Rego
Gabriel Leite Mota
Gonçalo Marcelo
Joana Silva
João Moreira de Campos
José Pedo Oliveira
João Pereira
José Soeiro
Luís Pedro Freitas
Ricardo Noronha
Simone Tulumello
Sofia Cruz
Solange Leonel