Sumários

Sociocultural Processes Influencing the Consolidation of Sports Gambling among Portuguese University Students and Athletes

25 Setembro 2026, 20:30 • Aleksi Erik Ylönen

The expansion of sports betting markets has raised growing concern about their social normalization. In this class, we are going to analyze the sociocultural processes underlying the normalization of sports betting among adult young and amateur athletes in Portugal and understand how the interaction of macro-level (accessibility and availability; aggressive marketing), meso-level (peer influence), and micro-level factors (illusion of financial gain) shapes risk perceptions and betting behaviors among these two vulnerable groups. Results of the G-Risks project, funded by the FCT (2023.15001.PEX) will be presented and explained. The political, commercial, and social environment has contributed to the growing social acceptance of gambling. This acceptance is manifested through peer influence, which reinforces the role of the “illusion of financial gain” promoted by advertising in gambling motivation, particularly among people with lack of financial literacy, limited financial independence or facing economic hardship. Financial motivations, along with a lack of controls, appear to be linked to the development of compulsive gambling, the choice of illegal operators, and the promotion of gambling among minors.

Deportation and Punitive Mobilities in the Making of the Modern (Atlantic) World

25 Setembro 2026, 18:00 • Aleksi Erik Ylönen

Images of individuals in handcuffs being deported to their countries of origin regularly appear in contemporary media. These scenes remind us that forced mobility is not an anomaly of the present, but a structural feature of the formation of modern states. Since the late nineteenth century, expulsion and extradition have become central instruments through which nation-states regulated mobility, imposed their authority, and defined the boundaries of belonging to the nation and the contours of disputes over citizenship.
This lecture will focus the consolidation of punitive mobilities between 1870 and 1930 within a transforming spatiality: the Ibero-American Atlantic. It analyses how extradition and expulsion operated at the intersection of European migration, criminal justice and international relations. The so-called age of mass migrations coincided with the codification of nationality laws and the contentious process of defining citizenship, the professionalization of border controls, and the increasing articulation of international legal norms. As millions of people moved between Europe and the Americas, their movements challenged established distinctions between citizens and foreigners and raised practical questions about national jurisdiction and the contours of citizenship. Criminal justice emerged as a central arena where these issues were addressed. Individuals classified as “undesirable” could be expelled from national territory, while those accused or convicted of crimes abroad could be surrendered through extradition agreements. This lecture will examine practices of forced mobility and their social, political, and legal effects.
By integrating the history of migration, international history, and the history of punishment, it aims to understand how cross-border punitive mechanisms developed in the context of mass migration. It aims to demonstrate that expulsion and extradition were not marginal or exceptional measures, but structuring practices through which nation-states organized jurisdiction, regulated mobility, and differentiated between citizens and foreigners in the Atlantic world.

The Global Geopolitics of Climate Change

24 Setembro 2026, 20:30 • Aleksi Erik Ylönen

Climate change is as old as the Earth itself, and even more so since human beings have been exploiting natural resources on a massive scale since the Industrial Revolution. Although in the last decades of the 20th century the impacts of climate change were already very discernible, there were still many negationists. However, today it is a startling reality on the ground. Droughts, floods, heatwaves, earthquakes, wildfires, and many other major environmental disasters are reaching their peak, with severe social and economic consequences, as well as political ones, across most of the regions of the world. Previously, climate changes had mainly impact at localised or national level, but not it has cross-border and even cross-regional impacts. This lecture will explore the geopolitical dimensions of the ongoing extreme climate events and trends, namely how they are affecting societies, economies and politics. The discussion will be centred on how climate change is driving regional and global geopolitics, especially when it comes to key global food and energy supply chains. It will also examine how geopolitics is simultaneously influencing responses to climate change, including through trade and financial mechanisms driven by various international players.

Seeking legal residence in Portugal: decision-making under ambiguity in migration governance

24 Setembro 2026, 18:00 • Aleksi Erik Ylönen

Drawing on fieldwork conducted in 2024 in appointments in a migrant association in the Lisbon area, I examine the impact of legal ambiguity on the decision-making processes of legal residence seekers and distinguish between legal eligibility and legal recognition. The latter is contingent upon divergent interpretations of immigration law some of which are shaped by subjective perceptions and imaginings. The case material focuses on the comparison between two routes towards legalization both of which were available to legal residence seekers from the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) and examines how the burden of choice weighed upon people´s shoulders. How to decide which legalization path to pursue within a context of growing ambiguity, conflicting interpretations and of inconsistent information from the state? And when the burden of choice is left to the individual, what implications does this have for our understandings of citizenship and state power? I aim to explore the answer to this question through dialogue with participants in the session. 

Studying the afterlives of development under aid disruption: a case study from Mozambique

23 Setembro 2026, 20:30 • Aleksi Erik Ylönen

Studying the afterlives of development under aid disruption: a case study from Mozambique