Presentation
This research group focuses on critically analysing how public policies and governance processes intersect with people’s daily lives, shaping and being shaped by dynamics of inequality, resistance, and negotiation. Using an ethnographic and interdisciplinary approach, group members conduct research across various fields including health, education, housing, migration, security, justice, social welfare, urban mobility, consumption, and the environment. The group is particularly dedicated to understanding how social and institutional practices operate in contexts marked by power imbalances, emphasising the real-world impacts of policy on people’s lived experiences. Committed to engaged research, the group values listening to the voices and practices of the communities it collaborates with, aiming to generate knowledge that informs public debate, promotes social justice, and influences policy change. Projects often combine long-term fieldwork with critical analysis of political and administrative structures, working alongside social actors, public institutions, and civil society organisations. The geographical scope of the group's work — from urban environments in Portugal to transnational contexts across Europe, Africa, South Asia, and Latin America — encourages a comparative perspective that attends to the multiple scales of political action. The group also hosts an annual Cycle of Seminars, open to all interested parties and regularly enriched by the participation of international colleagues visiting CRIA, creating a lively and inclusive space for debate and reflection on these topics.
