Análise Social Award 2023

Análise Social's 2023 award, worth 1000 Euros, to honour the best article published in the journal in 2022, was awarded to João Gomes (ISCSP, Ulisboa), for his article “The constitution and dynamics of the working class in casinos: clientelism and tips". Análise Social, 245, LVII (4.º), 2022, pp. 824-844. https://doi.org/10.31447/AS00032573.2022245.09

This article, based on ethnographic research, seeks to examine the constitution and social dynamics of the Portuguese casinos’ working class. The most relevant elements in the class experience of these professionals are the clientelism/nepotism present in the recruitment process of the casinos and the asymmetrical distribution of tips. If, on the one hand, these elements are mobilized by the workers, on the other, they are an integral part of the capitalist relations of exploitation and domination. Finally, it is argued that the position of structural subordination in the relationships between capital and labor, combined with the practices of social closure that guarantee relative occupational privileges to these workers, produces an eminently contradictory class habitus.

The article by Vasco Ramos (ICS, Ulisboa) “Between life course and social inequalities: articulation proposals and research results", Análise Social, 242, LVII (1.º), 2022, pp.32-54 received an honourable mention from the jury. https://doi.org/10.31447/AS00032573.2022242.02

In this paper, we trace a conceptual roadmap aimed at reconciling a life course perspective with the sociology of class and social inequality. We begin by presenting the life course perspective, reflecting on the central role it grants to processes of institutional regulation. Taking stock of critiques of both atomist explanations of agency and structural determinisms, we advocate for a longitudinal reading of how inequalities shape individual and collective trajectories, mobilizing concepts advanced by Pierre Bourdieu. We then demonstrate the potential of this approach to discuss how life course trajectories unfold in late modernity, drawing on recent research on Portugal.

The awards were granted by the following jury: Sofia Aboim (ICS, Universidade de Lisboa, president), Edalina Sanches (ICS, Universidade de Lisboa), Filipe Carreira da Silva ( ICS, Universidade de Lisboa), Patrícia Ferraz de Matos (ICS, Universidade de Lisboa), Rita Gouveia (ICS, Universidade de Lisboa), Simone Tulumello (ICS, Universidade de Lisboa) e Victor Pereira (Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour).