Historical considerations on the Portuguese social formation and Social Work

Abstract

This article as a critical essay aims to present some particularities that constitute the economic and social formation of Portugal, in order to contribute to a broader understanding of how Social Work emerged and became institutionalized. We highlight the fact that it was a Colonial Empire for more than four centuries; the entry into industrial capitalism forging a semi-peripheral and dependent condition; the anticlerical republicanism that shaped the First Republic; the fascist Estado Novo that sought to respond to the sum of capitalist crises; as well as the structuring role of the institution Catholic Church in the long historical duration and its unique function within the organizations of Salazarist corporatism. In this sense, we seek to signal how Social Work was hegemonically protected by the interests of the Church and Salazarism, developing a specific role within “social action” in Portugal, as well as in “social policies” in the colonies, highlighting the importance of women in the ideological construction of the regime.