معرفی
Maria João Vaz is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at the School of Sociology and Public Policy, Lisbon University Institute (ISCTE-IUL), where she also serves as Director. She is an Integrated Researcher and Coordinator of the Historical Dynamics and Global Integration of the World research group at CIES-Iscte - Center for Research and Studies in Sociology. Her academic credentials include a PhD in Modern and Contemporary History (2007), a Master's degree in Contemporary Social History (1997), and a Bachelor's degree in History (1985), all from Portuguese institutions.
Dr. Vaz's research focuses on the historical dimensions of crime, social control, and penal policy, particularly within the Portuguese context from the 19th to early 20th centuries. Her work examines the relationship between state institutions and society, with special attention to police history, transnational criminal justice, and the evolution of penal systems. She has made significant contributions to understanding Portugal's abolition of the death penalty in 1867 and its place in global penal reform movements.
Her research output shows consistent engagement with historical criminology, analyzing how crime was constructed in Portuguese society and represented in media. The articles demonstrate a clear trajectory examining police authority, urban crime patterns, prison systems, and the interplay between legal frameworks and social realities during Portugal's transition from monarchy to republic.
Dr. Vaz has led major research projects including CINCRA (2022-2025) on international crime and police cooperation in the Ibero-American Atlantic, and earlier work on Social Control and Penal Policy in Portuguese Liberalism (2014-2015). Her scholarly contributions extend to editorial work for academic journals and publications exploring the intersections of history, crime, and social control.
Her methodological approach combines archival research with comparative analysis, often placing Portuguese developments within broader European and transnational contexts. This perspective reveals how peripheral nations like Portugal sometimes led rather than followed in penal reform movements, challenging traditional center-periphery models of institutional diffusion.