01-09-2024
28-02-2026
The Portuguese associative tradition, whose roots date back to the 19th century and which experienced an important expansion in the First Republic (1910-1926) linked to the labour movement and socialist ideals, resisted the repressive control of associative action by the dictatorship and, in some cases, even constituted a space for practices of freedom and free learning of the regime's ideological project. These dynamics of resistance were amplified to an unprecedented level in the explosion of freedoms brought about by the April Revolution.
At the local level, research on this type of context still lacks attention, particularly about the educational, social, political and cultural assumptions that remain in these April subsidiary institutions, whether in their heritage and their current activity, or in the their sociability and symbolic heritage. Subsidiaries of the social emergencies of a decisive historical time, the associative movement is not just a circumstance. As a living social organism, the associative movement shapes sociability, produces, validates and archives knowledge and organizes solidarities in contexts particularly affected by the retreat of the welfare state. Local associations assume characteristics that validate them as instances of informal and non-formal education, in addition to being cultural and historical indexes of 50 years of democracy.
The objective of this project is to contribute to this sociological, historical and educational knowledge about the popular associative movement in Porto in its relationship with the 25th of April revolution and Portuguese democratic consolidation, and, specifically, about the developments and associative challenges faced by associations popular groups in Porto created during the PREC and in the first years after the approval of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic. The project is based on three case studies - Universidade Popular do Porto, National Association of Disabled People Injured at Work and Association of Residents of Lomba - constituted from the heritage of social and educational intervention developed in the training of Social Educators at the Escola Superior de Porto Education.
After almost five decades, these associations remain active and claim the democratic legacy of the April Revolution, which justifies a detailed study of their history and associative practices.
In line with Rodrigues (2015), it is important to question to what extent the roots of popular mobilization are maintained in these associations, at what level, with what intensity and with what new dynamics. On the other hand, the project also aims to preserve a social and collective history of popular associations in the north of the country that is still little studied and known, although fundamental for the understanding and evolution of Portuguese democracy over the last 50 years. To meet this objective, the project also uses the methodology of oral history, aiming to collect oral testimonies and part of the archives of these associations, making this data available to the academic community and the general public.
PCEP - Participation, Communities and Political Education
FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e para Tecnologia
2023.10921.25ABR
Associativismo
Democracia Participativa
Educação e intervenção social
25 de Abril
Escola Superior de Educação do Porto (Portugal) Porponente
Associação de Moradores da Lomba (Portugal)
Associação Nacional dos Deficientes Sinistrados no Trabalho (Portugal)
CIIE/Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade do Porto (Portugal)
Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal)
Universidade Popular do Porto (Portugal)