In the last decade Portugal had three governments with very different political orientations and proposals for the legislative organization of society, each one claiming to initiate a process of transformative politics that would have a positive impact upon Portuguese society. Social policies, legislation on labor, health, education, housing and security have been profoundly altered with each legislative change, impacting in different ways upon the institutions concerned and upon people’s lives. Furthermore, the economic crisis has engendered a crisis in the European model, which are inter-related and reveal a breakdown of social reproduction which puts into question redistribution models both at the macro (market, State), meso (mediating institutions and actors) and micro-scales of social interaction (families, social networks). LIVEPOLITICS focus on the different ways citizens experience the policies which govern their lives in a daily basis, how they implement them and what kind of negotiations can take place in the framework of moral economies. Through a detailed examination of the ways by which specific actors in diverse sectors of society experience legislation and policy orientations through a range of institutions, this project focuses on how perceptions of the legitimacy of policies emerge through policy implementation and negotiation within a wider analytical context of the workings moral economies. The project will focus on: 1) Livelihoods, policies, everyday life strategies; 2) Grassroots economics – definition, value and care regimes, interpretation and ways out of crisis; 3) Public policies, from conception, implementation and impact upon institutions and citizens. The project aims at reflecting on how different sectors of the Portuguese society experience their livelihoods through a permanent relation with state institutions throughout a decade of profound sociopolitical transformations. The strategies to overcome difficulties of provision under an au...

The concept of Care is being used in Anthropology to address situations where deprivation and health problems are dealt with in ways that include, but are not limited to, state provision to citizens (Benda-Beckmann 1988). In the relational existence of daily life, people use care in a broad sense to describe the processes and the sentiments between people who take care of each other in various dimensions of social life and who are not necessarily in need. For the human being as a person, to be, means being with others; taking care and being taken care of, thus implying both a practical and emotional involvement. Care is a motivational disposition to enact moral ideologies of good and right. Thus, it is frequently through the metaphor of 'care' that people express their moral concerns and practices of an ideal existence in a world with deep inequalities and deprived people. Care also has a moral significance: based on concern and dedication it implies the acknowledgment of the other in relation to one's existence thus becoming a constitutive element of social bonding. Bearing this framework in mind, and focusing on the Portuguese example, the project offers an innovative approach which combines the significance of economic factors with an emphasis on phenomenology. How do people respond to crisis situations in order to create sustainable existence for themselves, their significant ones and the world they live in? How do caring practices express or create sentiments of shame, care, dependence, compassion, solidarity, morality, dignity and self-esteem? What are the criteria for choosing to reach out to others: nationality, peer group, kinship, or ideology? How do 'market' or 'material' economic interests intersect with other interests such as creating a sense of belonging, fulfilling a moral duty, taking a political stance, responding to a religious calling, making one's life more meaningful? Portugal is currently undergoing a major social and economic situation of 'cr...