WINTER SCHOOL

The Winter School aims to promote debate among Master’s and PhD researchers working in areas related to the themes of the 10th National Meeting of Political Economy.
 

If contemporary reality is an amalgam marked by the deterioration of social living conditions, the intensification of tensions — between nation-states, between social classes, and between capital and labour —, the accelerating degradation of the environment and the worsening of its effects, societies must now also contend with a relatively new element: the acceleration of digital technological innovation, particularly in its algorithmic and platform-based forms. For these reasons, the Portuguese Association of Political Economy invites Master’s and PhD students to reflect on the theoretical and practical challenges posed by technological innovation in relation to Political Economy, as well as on its social impacts.

The evolution of productive systems has been marked by an intense process of technological innovation.

This becomes even clearer when the objects of analysis are the history of capitalism and the social conditions that have shaped it. Scholars drawing on different theoretical and ideological traditions have examined not only the prerequisites for technological innovation, but also its wide-ranging consequences. While mainstream economics assigns technology a central — albeit socially and politically neutral — role in explaining long-term economic growth, several other disciplines within the social sciences recognise the constitutive role that technology plays in contemporary societies. There is no denying that technological innovation and its development are among the structuring elements of present-day societies; from medicine to warfare, from education to work, technology has become an unavoidable factor in the production of knowledge and in processes of social transformation.

At the Portuguese Association of Political Economy, we believe that Political Economy cannot shy away from the need to understand the limits and impacts of technological development within the broader social context. The Winter School therefore invites Master’s and PhD students to share their research and contributions, reaffirming the role of academia not only in identifying the crises we are facing, but also in developing responses and new possibilities within Political Economy and related fields.

Selected proposals will be assessed by specialists in the relevant fields and discussed in dedicated sessions during the 10th National Meeting of Political Economy. Proposals that directly address the theme of this call will be welcomed, as will submissions that fall within the broader thematic strands of the Meeting.

The deadline for submitting proposals is 15 October 2026.

​

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).