The Social and Political Theory Group (SPTG) is a consolidated research group of the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra.

The Social and Political Theory Research Group (SPTG) is a vibrant academic community committed to critical thinking and social research. Its main purpose is to design research that offers a diagnosis of capitalist societies in times of polycrisis—marked by rising inequality, neo-authoritarianism, the climate emergency, war, and the AI revolution—and to envision alternative and emancipatory societal arrangements.

The group is committed to advancing both theoretical and practical insights through normative and critical-interpretive analysis, empirical research, and interdisciplinary dialogue. Researchers in the group engage in a wide range of projects, drawing on fields such as intellectual history, critical theory, social and political sciences, global political economy, political ecology, and gender studies.

As a methodologically pluralist group, we engage with diverse philosophical traditions—whether analytic or continental, (post-)Marxism, critical theory, feminism, or pragmatism—and a variety of methodologies, including qualitative and quantitative social science research and historical analysis. This approach enables members to offer fresh perspectives on debates related to social and political change, freedom and power dynamics, justice, identity, the state, critiques of capitalism, and democracy, providing both theoretical depth and societal relevance.

The group is especially committed to mentoring and supporting PhD students and early-career researchers, offering them opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration, academic publication, and professional development.

The SPTG group is also a founding member of the Barcelona Network for Critical Thought and Social Research, which brings together scholars and organizations focused on critical thinking and building bridges between theory and practice, academia, activism, and society.

In a nutshell, the SPTG’s research areas and interests are:

  • Crisis and Critique (coord.: Miguel de Beistegui)
  • Global Political Economy, Social & Labor Emancipatory Movements (coord.: Mònica Clua-Losada)
  • Critical Theory & Political Theory; Varities of Populism & Religious Studies (coord.: Camil Ungureanu)
  • Nationalism, Federalism Studies & Self-Determination Movements (coord.: Marc Sanjaume-Calvet)
  • Post-Kantian Philosophy, Critical Theory, Feminist Theory & Political Ecology (coord.: Tatiana Llaguno)
  • Political Philosophy & the Arts (coord.: Miguel de Beistegui & Camil Ungureanu)

The Group activities and organization is dialogue-based and horizontal. The coordination of the Group is rotative.

- Coordinator: Camil Ungureanu ([email protected])

- Vice-coordinator: Tatiana Llaguno ([email protected])

The SPTG carries on the legacy of Research Group in Political Theory (GRTP) founded and coordinated by prof. Ferran Requejo