Call for papers

The VI Meeting of the APS Thematic Section on "Sociology of Law and Justice" will take place at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra (FEUC), on 30 and 31 March 2026, co-organised by FEUC, the Centre for Social Studies (CES-UC) and the doctoral programme in Sociology of the State, Law and Justice (FEUC, CES). This is a multi- and interdisciplinary organisation that aims to reflect the choice of theme of the Meeting: “The Constitution of the Social and the Political: affirming fundamental rights, responding to challenges and imagining the future”.

2 April 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of the approval of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic by the Constituent Assembly. This historic milestone invites reflection on fundamental rights and their role in social transformations in areas such as family, work, equality, leisure, citizenship, health, and social security.

Between 1975 and 1976, the first democratically elected members of parliament debated intensely on a new Constitution, breaking with the authoritarian past and committing to full citizenship and the democratic rule of law.

Today, faced with new challenges such as disinformation, polarisation, nationalism, and armed conflict, we are revisiting the Constitution to consider collective responses and renew the ideals of freedom, social justice, and international solidarity. This Meeting will be a space for plural dialogue on the present and future of democracy.

The Meeting is open to all those who have conducted research and/or intervened in the areas of law and justice, regardless of their background and the institutional framework of their work. We strongly encourage the participation of young researchers, professionals, and academics who carry out their activities in Portuguese and/or in the Portuguese-speaking and international spheres.

The Meeting will consist of two plenary sessions, two semi-plenary sessions, and parallel thematic sessions, the topics of which will be defined according to the proposals received in response to the call for thematic sessions and papers. In the case of thematic sessions, the session coordinator should indicate the names of the participants and the name of a moderator. Proposals for papers within these sessions should be submitted individually, following the procedure applicable to all proposals, but indicating the name of the coordinator of the thematic session to which they belong. Proposals for papers should include the title of the presentation, an abstract of up to 2500 characters (including spaces), and 3 keywords.

The organisation accepts proposals for thematic sessions and papers within the following thematic areas:

• Fundamental rights and constitutionalism: debates on the guarantee and reinterpretation of rights in the light of social and political changes.
• Constitutional democracy in crisis: challenges to liberal democratic constitutionalism, erosion of democratic institutions and strategies for resistance and safeguarding the Rule of Law.
• Legal and normative pluralisms: interactions between different formal and informal regulatory systems, and challenges to state law.
• Rights, citizenship and migration: processes of affirmation, exclusion and defence of rights, with a focus on vulnerable populations.
• Symbolic violence and social fragmentation: dynamics of polarisation, cultural wars, and threats to plural cohesion as the foundation of democratic life, with special attention to gender and immigration issues.
• Criminalisation, decriminalisation, and criminal justice: criminal policies, social movements, violence, the purposes of punishment, and spaces of deprivation of liberty.
• Justice, inequalities, and social vulnerabilities: critical analysis of the structural weaknesses of justice systems and ways of mitigating inequalities.
• Technology, artificial intelligence, and law: impacts of new technologies on legal systems, emerging ethics and new social and legal relationships.
• Technology, disinformation, and digital authoritarianism: impacts of artificial intelligence and digital platforms on democracy, addressing information manipulation, digital populism, and authoritarian trends in technological capitalism.
• Actors, institutions and legal practises: the role of courts, legal professionals, and new subjects in the administration of justice.
• Racism, public policies, and intersectionalities: dynamics of discrimination and institutional responses in the construction of social justice.
• Ethics and interspecies relations and relations with technology: legal and ethical challenges in relations between humans, animals and machines.

Proposals for papers, including an abstract of up to 2500 characters (including spaces), should be submitted HERE by 15 December 2025.

Decisions on proposals received will be communicated by 15 January 2026; the full programme will be published online on 16 February 2026. Registrations must be made by 1 March 2026.

Decisions on proposals received will be communicated by 15 January 2026; the full programme will be published online on 16 February 2026. Registrations must be made by 1 March 2026.

Organising Committee (Coimbra): Carlos Nolasco, João Paulo Dias, João Pedroso, Madalena Duarte, Patrícia Branco, and Paula Casaleiro

Scientific Committee: Carlos Nolasco, Claúdia Resende, João Paulo Dias, João Pedroso, Madalena Duarte, Patrícia André, Patrícia Branco, Paula Casaleiro, Sílvia Gomes, Susana Santos, and Vera Duarte

Partner entity: Court of Appeal of Coimbra

Any queries can be clarified by emailing direito@aps.pt