_{Theatre collectives as emancipatory organizations and sociopsychological analysis of statements by managers of state-owned companies in a Commission of Inquiry are the themes of the award-winning articles.}
 

The articles “Transformar o mundo pelo trabalho, pela estética e pela política: uma análise de coletivos teatrais como utopias reais”, by Joana S. Marques (Associação A3S and Centro de Investigação e Estudos de Sociologia – CIES-Iscte), and “Swaps e empresas públicas em Portugal: uma história de poder, cisnes negros e ilusões”, by Júlio Lobão (Faculdade de Economia da Universidade do Porto), won ex æquo the 2022 edition of Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais Prize.

The Prize, in the amount of 1000 euros, is awarded every two years. This edition was intended to award the best article(s) published between 2020 and 2021 in the pages of this internationally recognized publication, which is edited by the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra.

The central thesis of Joana S. Marques’ article is that theatre collectives – which she analyzed from the theoretical framework of Erik Olin Wright’s emancipatory social science – constitute emancipatory organizations that articulate their artistic language with new forms of social organization and production. Through two case studies, one in Portugal and the other in Brazil, the author argues that theatre collectives can constitute real utopias, acting simultaneously on the margins and within the hegemonic system.

In the other award-winning article, Júlio Lobão carries out a socio-psychological analysis of the statements made by managers of state-owned companies before a Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry, created by the Portuguese Parliament, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the contracting of swaps by these companies. Using concepts from several scientific fields, including Sociology of Finance and Cognitive Psychology, the author highlights that the power relations between the social actors involved (public authorities, banks, companies) appear in the discourse of managers and that the conditions of uncertainty and the managers’ cognitive illusions influenced their rationalization narratives.

The Jury of the Prize considered that, in a universe characterized by a high level of quality, both awarded articles stood out, in addition to the careful and pertinent empirical analysis they carry out, for the development of a highly original perspective of analysis, based on a very solid theoretical framework, likely to open up avenues for innovative approaches in the respective fields.

One honourable mention has been attributed to the article “Vida cotidiana y experiencias morales de un grupo de jóvenes en conflicto con la ley en Santiago, Chile”, by Mauricio Carreño Hernández (PhD student in the Departamento de Antropología, Filosofía y Trabajo Social of Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Spain), Gabriel Abarca-Brown (Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Diego Portales, Chile) and Esteban Radiszcz (Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de Chile), all researchers of LaPSoS – Laboratorio Transdisciplinar en Prácticas Sociales y Subjetividad, Universidad de Chile.

Comprised of three experts from the Social Sciences and Humanities: Ana Cristina Mendes (Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa and Centro de Estudos Anglísticos da Universidade de Lisboa), Anabela Carvalho (Instituto de Ciências Sociais da Universidade do Minho), Ricardo Roque (Instituto de Ciências Sociais da Universidade de Lisboa), and presided by António Sousa Ribeiro, Director of the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra, the Jury met on June 23, having decided unanimously.

About the Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais

The Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais (RCCS), a four-monthly journal of the Centre for Social Studies, publishes original articles presenting advanced research and creative theoretical thinking with respect to the Social Sciences and the Humanities. The journal favours works with a transdisciplinary approach and that contribute to the theoretical discussion, epistemological thinking and critical knowledge of contemporary reality on a global scale. Welcoming contributions from all geographical contexts, RCCS pays particular attention to works that contribute to theoretical and epistemological innovation from the global South.

The journal publishes in English, Portuguese and Spanish, and the entire collaboration is submitted to a demanding selection process based on a double-blind peer review process.

RCCS’ high standards of quality and rigour are substantiated by its inclusion in the Eurozine network and being indexed in Scopus, Web of Science-Clarivate (Emerging Sources Citation Index – ESCI and SciELO Citation Index), SciELO, DOAJ, Qualis-CAPES, ERIH Plus, Sociological Abstracts, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, and EBSCO, among others.