Análise Social Prize

The Análise Social—FLAD Prize 2012, with the value of 750 Euros, for the best article or essay published in the journal in 2011, was awarded to José Pedro Zúquete (ICS, UL), “New times, new winds? The European extreme right and Islam”, Análise Social, 201, XLVI (4.º), 2011, pp. 653-677.

Abstract: Since the turn of the millennium, academic research has pointed to anti-Muslim sentiment as a key feature of the European extreme right. This article discusses the background and validity of the term “Islamophobia”, as well as the coining and spread of the term “Eurabia” in extreme right ideology. We also examine how the concept of rising Muslim power in Europe has helped to alter extreme right ideology and forge new alliances across the political landscape.
Keywords: Islam; extreme right; identity; immigration

The prize was awarded by the following jury: José Luís Garcia (ICS, Universidade de Lisboa, presidente), Ana Cristina Nogueira da Silva (Faculdade de Direito, Universidade Nova de Lisboa) e Carlos Jalali (Universidade de Aveiro).

The Análise Social—FLAD Prize 2011, with the value of 1,000 Euros, for the best article or essay published in the journal in 2010, was awarded to José Manuel Mendes (CES, Universidade de Coimbra), “Voiceless people, unnamable networks and disposable groups: the limits of Actor-network theory”, Análise Social, 196, XLV (3.º), 2010, pp. 447-465.

Abstract: In this paper a critical analysis of Bruno Latour and Michel Callon’s Actor-network theory is proposed. It is argued that studies about the social must incorporate emotions and imponderability. Focusing on the analysis of catastrophes and extreme events, a reflection on the political work that excludes from the social networks, as irretrievable and disposable, all those that do not create or do not carry value in the hegemonic perspective and, therefore, are not construed as having social and political rights is presented. These irretrievable and disposable persons and groups become invisible and absent in the conventional analyses proposed by Actor-network theory.
Keywords: Actor-network theory; emotions; extreme events; disposable groups.

The Special Prize of the Jury 2011, with the value of 500 Euros, for the best article or essay published in the Journal in 2010 by a young researcher was awarded ex-aequo to Miguel Morgado (Instituto de Estudos Políticos, Universidade Católica Portuguesa), “Democracy and political philosophy”, Análise Social, 196, XLV (3.º), 2010, pp. 467-489.

Abstract: Political philosophy as philosophy of politics is related to the political conditions of its own activity. The political defense of philosophy, which is a fundamental element of political philosophy, is the unavoidable result of the confrontation between several forms of existence that are available to human beings. However, the political regime and its historical vitality interfere with the way the philosopher relates to the city when engaging in a political defense of philosophy. In this essay I will try to examine the concrete relationship between contemporary democracy and political philosophy, and I will suggest that, although it has been, historically speaking, benevolent to political philosophy, it also contains some risks.
Keywords: democracy; political philosophy; regime; liberty; justice; individualism.

and to António Baptista (ICS, Universidade de Lisboa), “Democracy and democratic representation”, Análise Social, 196, XLV (3.º), 2010, pp. 491-514.

Abstract: In this article, democracy is conceived as the source of legitimacy of political representation. Thus, in order to debate representation, one must previously clarify and uphold a specific model of democracy. Democracy here is understood as the procedural ideal of political equality (isocracy). Arguments contrary to procedural concepts of democracy are analyzed and rejected, and the weaknesses of rival substantive concepts are explored. Finally, in accordance with isocracy’s ideal, direct democracy is considered democratically superior, and proportional electoral systems are held to be those most compatible with a democratic sort of representation: the accurate representation of citizens’ preferences.
Keywords: procedural democracy; political equality; direct democracy; proportional representation of preferences.

The prize was awarded by the following jury: José Manuel Rolo (ICS, Universidade de Lisboa, presidente), Pedro Tavares de Almeida (FCSH, Universidade Nova de Lisboa) e Carlos Fortuna (Faculdade de Economia, Universidade de Coimbra).

The Análise Social—FLAD Prize 2010, with the value of 2,500 Euros, for the best article or essay published in the journal in 2009, was awarded to Luciano Amaral (Faculdade de Economia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa), “New series of Portuguese population and employment, 1950-2007: Implications for GDP per capita and labor productivity”, Análise Social, 193, XLIV (4.º), 2009, pp. 767-791.

Abstract: The two most important international databases with Portuguese GDP per capita and productivity from the 1950s onwards (GGDC and Ameco) offer two contrasting pictures of its evolution, especially during the slowdown of 1973 to the mid-1980s.The main problem is the low quality of the underlying data for population and employment. This paper offers new estimates for population and employment and recalculates GDP per capita and productivity between 1950 and 2007. Although confirming the main idea advanced in GGDC (a similar slowdown of GDP per capita and productivity), the series are different, and should be viewed as the new benchmark for the Portuguese economy.
Keywords: Portugal; GDP per capita; labor productivity; new series.

The Special Prize of the Jury 2010, with the value of 750 Euros, for the best article or essay published in the Journal in 2009 by a young researcher was awarded to Victor Pereira (Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour), “Emigration and the development of social welfare in Portugal”, Análise Social, 192, XLIV (3.º), 2009, pp. 471-510.

Abstract: This article analyses social policy in the 1960s and early 1970s. It shows that the expansion of the social welfare system was an attempt by the government to adapt to the emigration, which began in the late 1950s. Other factors behind the expansion of the system were measures taken within the government by a group of senior officials who were inspired by the new life given to the Church’s social doctrines arising from Vatican II, the membership of some administrative officials in international communities of experts on social policy, and the attempt to legitimize the Marcelo Caetano regime.
Keywords: emigration; welfare state; Estado Novo; social movements.

The prize was awarded by the following jury: Jaime Reis (ICS, University of Lisbon, president); Jorge Flores (Brown University, USA); Peter Fry (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro); Robert Fishman (Notre Dame University, USA).

The Análise Social Prize 2009, with the value of 2,500 Euros, for the best article or essay published in the journal in 2008, was awarded to Pedro Magalhães (ICS, Universidade de Lisboa), “Social networks and electoral choices in Portugal”, Análise Social, 188, XLIII (3.º), 2008, pp. 473-504.

Abstract: This article addresses the effects of social networks on the propensity of electoral voters to vote. Various formal models have suggested that the decision to vote has to be seen as being dependent on decisions of the members of the social network to which the individual belongs. Using data gathered in two survey questionnaires after the parliamentary elections of 2005 and the presidential elections of 2006, this article suggests that, as with the option to vote, social networks have a huge influence on the decision to vote. Unlike the option to vote, however, the influence in this case is mainly normative rather than of an informational nature.
Keywords: social networks; interpersonal influence; political discussion.

The Special Prize of the Jury 2009, with the value of 750 Euros, for the best article or essay published in the Journal in 2008 by a young researcher was awarded to Renato Miguel do Carmo (ISCTE, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa), “From scale to territory: toward a critical theory of polycentrism”, Análise Social, 189, XLIII (4.º), 2008, pp. 775-793.

Abstract: This article seeks to develop an analytical theory of the concept of polycentrism, the assumptions of which provide the foundations for most of the current land planning policy framework, with a view to analyzing whether polycentrism is the best solution to the regional imbalances in the national territory, in particular those affecting areas that are caught between urbanization and marginalization. Studies we have been carrying out on the Alentejo region will be used for this purpose.
Keywords: polycentrism; land planning; scalar space; Alentejo.

The prize was awarded by the following jury: Jaime Reis (ICS, Universidade de Lisboa, presidente); Jorge Flores (Universidade de Brown, EUA); Peter Fry (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro); Philippe Schmitter (Instituto Universitário Europeu, Florença).