The Associação Portuguesa De História Económica e Social: The First 25 Years (1980-2005)

In November of 2004, in Lisbon, the Associação Portuguesa de História Económica e Social (APHES) held its 24th Congress. Over 150 abstract submissions, from Portugal and abroad, responded to a farreaching call for papers. About 100 papers were selected by a Committee, and were presented in parallel sessions over two days, in a lively and stimulating environment. Thirty percent of the participants came from abroad and the same proportion of sessions was held in English. The papers were grouped into sessions with a wide range of topics, including medieval Social History, late modern Agrarian History, nineteenth century Business History, History of Economic Thought and quantitative Economic History. In one conference room, the development of agrarian institutions in the late Medieval and early Modern periods was discussed, and we could easily notice there how our colleagues presenting papers on England and the Netherlands were interested in learning more about institutional development in the Alentejo and Madeira – and vice-versa. In another room, we listened to an interesting discussion on the European Empires held by scholars from the United States, Portugal and other European countries, and by young Portuguese researchers studying abroad. In a third room, we were introduced to the most recent research on labor history and on the history of energy consumption. In short, this was a truly interesting European meeting.