History of APHES

Founded in the 1st of July 1980, under the initiative of Vitorino Magalhães Godinho (1918-2011), the Associação Portuguesa de História Económica e Social (APHES) has now more than 500 members, mostly working on Portuguese and foreign universities.

Since its foundation, APHES has organized an annual scientific meeting, seeking to bring together the researcher community and promote knowledge on economic and social history (see Encontros for detailed information). The organization of these meetings has been promoted by members from various Portuguese universities. This annual alternation contemplates the diversity of the university panorama, promotes the exchange of experiences and fosters the study of economic and social history throughout the country.

The APHES has sought to develop research in economic and social history in Portugal through a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, the international projection of research, achieved through the internationalization of the annual meetings, which has counted on a growing participation of foreign researchers and of working sessions in English. Member of the International Economic History Association (http://www.ieha-wehc.org) since 1986, APHES considers the participation in international knowledge networks as an additional contribution to the internationalization of research.

On the other hand, APHES has supported the participation of young researchers in their meetings, in order to allow the presentation of their work and contact with other researchers. To this end, the association awards annual fellowships for young researchers to participate in annual meetings (link to the webpage with more information). Since 2001, the Association has established the APHES Prize to promote quality research by young researchers of Portuguese nationality or working in Portuguese universities. Therefore, we have tried to make known the historiographical production developed in different institutions and stimulated the discussion of central topics of national and international historiography.