António Teixeira Fernandes - Monotonia Democrática e Diluição das Regulações Sociais

A more or less generalized feeling of growing insecurity has been spreading in contemporary societies. It's not just the threats of terrorism that intimidate people, although this is perhaps a very decisive factor in this state of mind.

A broader deregulation seems to have affected social life, questioning the very capacity of governments for fair and stable management of public affairs.

The world shows signs of having lost, if not its foundations, at least its direction.

This publication aims to explore areas of society where deregulation seems to be advancing with greater intensity, increasing some apprehensions.

Social trust is diminishing, the danger of terrorism is imminent, the uncontrolled advance of neoliberalism is causing nation-states to lose the functions that traditionally belonged to them, starting with sovereignty, the lack of social protection accompanies the dismantling of the welfare state, a society of work is giving way to a society of unemployed workers, family structures cannot withstand fragmentation ad infinitum, and, with the pulverization of symbolic universes, there is a fragmentation of values, with the fall into the "war of the gods" waged in the growing antagonism of values.

António Teixeira Fernandes holds a PhD in Sociology, is a full professor at the University of Porto and a lecturer at the Faculty of Arts of the same University.