The APS is a non-profit association dedicated to:

-Promote Sociology development;
-Encouraging research, communication and scientific debate;
-Support Sociologist professional activity;
-Endorse and disseminate Portuguese sociological analysis;
-Sponsor Portuguese sociologist integration in the international Sociological community;
-Publicise amongst institutions and public opinion the nature, added value, importance and contribution of Sociology;
-Establish relationships with other scientific areas.

On the whole it was built to

Specifically it was built to

  • Better understand and intervene in our society – contributing to public policies;
  • Stimulate to the awareness of multiplicity within sociological perspectives and its theoretical and methodological instruments – respecting sociology multi paradigmatic feature;
  • Encourage to a scientific openness – scientific independence, identity and visibility are not antonymous of trans or multi disciplinary relations;
  • Endorse different ways of being and making – sociologist and sociology are not and cannot be close up to a label. We are and act in several but important spheres – from teaching to research, from public administration to private entities.

Established in 1985 and with statutes since 1992 (last revision in 2008) we have grown from 30 members to an association made up over 2000 associates making APS one of the biggest national sociological associations of the world.

The APS also plays an important role in organizing several initiatives such as the national sociological conferences every 4 years. Established in 1988 each congress has been dedicated to a generic theme. It is with an immense delight that we see that both participants as well as communications have been considerable increasing through times. This is one of the indicators of the Portuguese sociology institutionalization.

Following its mission, the APS seeks to:

  • Reinforce cooperation, communication and initiatives – between and within different institutional fields;
  • Promote Portuguese sociology internationalization – intensifying efforts to a joint scientific cooperation (member of the International Sociological Association, the European Sociological Association, and the ReSu);
  • Contribute to higher educational and research standards – by a close relationship with Sociology Departments at universities and educational institutes in order to face educational (Bologna) and societal (technocratic) challenges, opportunities and constrains;
  • Debate the professionalization of sociologist – questioning on sociology as a science and sociology as a profession.