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El CIS ha realizado una encuesta sobre temores en la sociedad actual en la que se pregunta a los españoles por sus miedos, lo que les preocupa en su día a día, y por los conflictos sociales y políticos, entre otras cuestiones.  El 12,3% de las personas tiene “muchos o bastantes miedos o temores”; el 32,5% “algunos”; y el 54,8% tiene “poco o ningún miedo o temor”. Entre las personas que suelen tener algún tipo de recelo, el 31,4% asegura que tienen que ver principalmente con “cuestiones personales”, otro 31,4% con asuntos que “conciernen a la sociedad española actual”; y un 16,2% con “cuestiones internacionales y el mundo de nuestros días”.  Miedos Lo que más miedo suscita a los españoles es “perder a un familiar cercano” con un 8,18 de media, seguido de “perder la salud” con un 7,85. Perder la vista también preocupa mucho (7,52) y en cuarto lugar está “contraer un cáncer” con un 7,39 sobre 10. Los más jóvenes y los mayores de 75 años son los grupos de edad que más expresan el temor a perder a un familiar. La media de los jóvenes de 18 a 25 años es de 8,38 y 8,56 entre quienes tienen más de 75 años. El temor a una guerra mundial también preocupa a los encuestados y se sitúa en 8,01, seguido del miedo a “ser juzgado o perseguido por un delito que no ha cometido” con un 7,33 y muy cerca el miedo a “una crisis económica” con el 7,30. Posibles guerras Cuando se pregunta por la posibilidad de que haya una guerra en la que se utilicen armas nucleares, el 78,9% de los españoles afirma que sí podría pasar y el 19,4% cree que no. El 41,7% asegura que el uso de armas nucleares supondría el fin de la humanidad, mientras que el 54,1% indica que no lo sería.  Por otro lado, el 67,7% de los encuestados opina que tener unas Fuerzas Armadas bien dotadas y entrenadas, es una garantía necesaria para evitar ser objeto de una agresión o abuso por parte de otro país, mientras que el 29,6% no lo cree. En cuanto a los conflictos sociales, un 89,9% piensa que van en aumento temas como la violencia, la polarización o los enfrentamientos, frente a un 9% que piensan que no.  Democracia y medios de comunicación El 76,6% de los españoles cree que la democracia en España ha sufrido “mucho o bastante deterioro”, mientras que un 20,2% asegura que no lo ha sufrido. Entre los que opinan que existe ese deterioro, un 82,4% dice sentirse muy preocupado por esa cuestión, frente al 16,3% que afirma que no les preocupa el deterioro de la democracia.  Además, un 77,1% indica que los medios de comunicación están contribuyendo a aumentar la sensación de miedo y temor en la sociedad, frente a un 20,1% que piensa que no.  Un 13,8% de los españoles dice que, en las dos últimas semanas, el miedo o las preocupaciones le han quitado el sueño, frente a un 62,3% que dice que “rara vez o nunca”. Y un 23% reconoce que “a veces” sí le han quitado el sueño. Comparado con hace un año, un 48,9% afirma que sus miedos y preocupaciones son “mucho mayores o algo mayores”; un 41% indica que igual y solo un 9,7% asegura que “algo menores o mucho menores”. En cuanto a la frecuencia con la que los ciudadanos experimentan últimamente sentimientos de miedo o angustia sin ninguna causa concreta e identificada, el 80,4% asegura que con “poca o ninguna” y solo el 18,5% con “mucha o bastante”.  Seguridad ciudadana  El 67,6% reconoce que se siente “muy o bastante seguro” caminando solo por determinadas zonas del lugar donde vive después del anochecer, mientras que un 29,8% afirma sentirse “poco o nada seguro”.  En cuanto a los datos por sexo, el 40,2% de los hombres manifiesta sentirse “muy seguro”, frente al 20,3% de las mujeres. En el mismo sentido, el 39,6% de las mujeres expresan que se sienten “poco o nada” seguras, con respecto al 29,8% de los hombres. Si atendemos a los tramos de edad, son los más jóvenes los que manifiestan mayor inseguridad, el 39,2% de los jóvenes entre 18 y 24 años se sienten “poco o nada seguros”. Nuevas tecnologías Un 33,1% siente “mucho o bastante” miedo a que su vida se vea sometida a control por las nuevas tecnologías; un 38,7% afirma que siente “poco o ningún miedo”; y un 27,5% padece “algo de miedo”. Malestar emocional El 14,9% de los españoles reconoce que toma algún tipo de medicación —antidepresivos o ansiolíticos— para manejar el malestar emocional frente a un 84,4% que asegura que no.  Además, un 65,8% piensa que el malestar emocional en la sociedad española no está suficientemente atendido en estos momentos; un 27,2% opina que sí lo está. Sobre el temor a quedarse sin apoyo emocional en momentos difíciles, el 32% de los encuestados tiene “mucho o bastante temor”, frente a un 67,4% que tiene “poco o ninguno”. De hecho, el 90,1% afirma que tiene personas con las que puede hablar abiertamente de sus miedos y temores, y solo un 9,2% dice que no las tiene. Un 86,8% afirma que tiene la sensación de que, haga lo que haga en su vida, hay factores externos que escapan a su control, frente a un 11,2% que no lo ve así.  A pesar de ello, el 79,4% se considera “más bien optimista” en líneas generales, un 15,5% “más bien pesimista” y un 3,5% dice que “equilibrada, ni optimista ni pesimista”. Dentro de 10 años… El 37,2% opina que sus condiciones de vida serán peores dentro de 10 años, un 29,7% dice que serán mejores que ahora y un 37,2% que serán iguales. Estos y otros datos se encuentran en el estudio sobre Temores en la sociedad actual, que se ha realizado del 20 al 27 de febrero y cuenta con una muestra de 5.015 entrevistas. 

CAPITOLINA DIAZ MARTINEZ In the third and final session of the 5th CIS Conference on Sociology of Gender, Capitolina Díaz Martínez, current recipient of the 2025 National Prize for Sociology and Political Science, gave a presentation entitled "Sociology without female sociologists. Anatomy of a disciplinary expulsion ." “The historical absence of female sociologists is the result of an epistemological and institutional process that has defined who can produce legitimate knowledge. It is not an empirical deficiency. It is not due to oversight or a lack of quality or output. It is a structural effect, not academic negligence.” In a detailed epistemological exposition, she has meticulously outlined how the sociological canon has been constructed through a series of mechanisms that have excluded women, compiling a list of these exclusionary practices. She illustrated this with the cases of four pioneering women in sociology: Harriet Martineau, Jane Addams, Marianne Weber, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The list of exclusion mechanisms — “or erasure mechanisms” — includes, according to their research: excess, absorption, particularization, silencing, and displacement. Capitolina Díaz concludes that these pioneering women were rejected because they were “too much”: too empirical, too committed, too situated. “What is not cited, what is not transmitted, what is not taught, ceases to exist.” When a female sociologist discovered a theory and received recognition for it, her identity was diluted, even if her discovery was incorporated into the canon, but without a name. The topics of her study were considered minor because they were everyday or natural; issues such as reproduction or caregiving were excluded from analysis, and instead of being considered scientific and theoretical, they were categorized as activities labeled as having a lower academic level: philanthropy, travel journalism, or activism. For Capitolina Díaz, these mechanisms of exclusion, invisibly, continue to operate today in a similar way to how they did in the erasure of the pioneers.   CARLOTA SOLÉ I PUIG Carlota Solé, winner of the 2023 National Prize for Sociology and Political Science, focused her speech on describing the situation of immigrant women entrepreneurs. “Immigrant women are interested in and committed to entrepreneurship despite different forms of oppression and adverse conditions. They stand out for their resilience and their resolute attitude towards risk.” Solé i Puig detailed the challenges faced by migrant women entrepreneurs through examples from different nationalities and ethnicities: limited language skills, social networks confined to the home or a few friends, linguistic and cultural barriers, lack of understanding of legislation, and difficulties accessing financing. “Digital media represents an empowering alternative for migrant women entrepreneurs.” “The family plays a very important role in the process of creating and maintaining a business. They are influenced by the sociocultural environment, family dynamics, self-perception, and the interaction between their status and their expectations.” The professor explained how the key to success and progress lies in new technologies: the connected mobile phone can boost, even in hostile contexts such as that of refugees, access to entrepreneurship for immigrant women. “The use of digital tools facilitates their communication, discussion and decision-making, access to courses or online marketing, but it also represents a digital divide that can separate them.”   She also highlighted some characteristics of their entrepreneurial approach: work-life balance is practically nonexistent, they employ other women of the same ethnicity, they tend to diversify their clientele, and they create small businesses with low technological requirements that are usually established in the home context. For these women, starting a business is a means of upward mobility. Their motivations center on the need to escape a discriminatory market and on self-affirmation. “This work deserves to be supported, valued and reinforced with training and mentoring programs, access to microcredits and specific funds, support networks and associations, or legal and administrative advisory services.”   INSTITUTIONAL CLOSING CEREMONY At the closing ceremony, the Secretary of State for Migration, Pilar Cancela Rodríguez, spoke, thanking the organizers of the conference for "being able to listen to those who know, those who understand." And he asserted: “Talking about migration today is revolutionary. We must construct a narrative that allows us to reclaim essential issues such as human rights. There are 58 forgotten crises.” The Director General of the CIS, Silvia García Ramos, concluded the event by stating that "thanks to the research of sociologists, today we know more about how inequalities are constructed and, above all, how they are overcome." The president of the CIS, José Félix Tezanos, reiterated that the five women awarded are “a treasure of knowledge and ability to present” and announced that the intention of the Center for Sociological Research is to publish a book that compiles the presentations from these conferences.

INÉS ALBERDI “Feminism taught us that the personal is political” At the second Gender Sociology Conference at the Center for Sociological Research, Inés Alberdi focused her presentation on the role of women in the Spanish Transition and on feminism as the driving force behind that social change. “We learned that the personal is political, and the Spanish Transition was a profound sociological transformation.” Alberdi recounted the most significant changes that affected women's social and political status and their evolving mindset. In the 1960s, two key factors transformed everything: emigration to Europe and the rise of tourism . "It had an emulative impact," Alberdi explained. "Spaniards who emigrated often returned to their hometowns in the summer to spend their holidays, because paid vacations existed in Europe. And they shared their daily experiences." Alberdi explained how the phenomenon of tourism acted as a driving force for social change. Their behavior served as a point of comparison, allowing Spaniards to observe the differences between their respective lives. They learned about what was happening abroad: political freedom, a free press, democratic organization, unions, and more open romantic relationships. "Everything that was prohibited in Spain was considered a right beyond its borders: desires for democracy, personal autonomy, and geographical mobility emerged. We began to look at Europe with admiration and envy. Fashion, bikinis, and music were the most visible aspects." But if there was one group that truly experienced this difference, it was women. “We arrive at the most important aspect of the influence that tourism had on women's behavior and aspirations. A desire for modernization emerged: women envied sexual freedom and access to birth control, and they began to wonder how it was possible to be with a husband without getting pregnant.” In the spring of 1975, a fundamental reform arrived: the Law of May 2nd, which restored women's legal capacity . “For the first time in Spanish history, women achieved the equality that came with the 1978 Constitution, which established equality in civil and criminal matters and within marriage. The family model changed, and the status of women in society rose enormously.” Alberdi emphasized that, although we live in a more prosperous society, challenges remain in areas such as employment opportunities, the eradication of violence, and the gender pay gap. “There’s a paradox: feminism often gets bad press and is associated with conflict. There’s a misconception that it’s against men, when in reality it’s a philosophy of defending equality that has had the support of many men throughout history. Sometimes it’s difficult to call yourself a feminist, it’s amazing, but it’s true.” CONSTANZA TOBIO “Feminism is perseverance” Constanza Tobío, winner of the 2021 National Prize for Sociology and Political Science, began her presentation with a thank you to the CIS: “Feminism is perseverance and it is very gratifying to see that these five award winners already represent a social change.” “I discovered sociology early, at 16, when a copy of the FOESSA survey fell into my hands. I had never seen a book like it. I was amazed by the charts, the tables, the amount of information, and the internal logical structure. When I learned what a survey was, my amazement only grew, so I decided that this was what I wanted to do with my life.” After graduating, she became interested in inequalities and the integration of women into the labor market. “Research is very similar to a detective novel: there’s a mystery, there are clues and evidence that must be carefully analyzed. The mystery I encountered was how, in just two decades, the traditional family model of gender roles was transformed into a model of dual employment.” It was a profound social change, silently spearheaded by women.   So she decided to focus on a specific question: how do full-time working mothers manage? She was initially interested in their narratives: what were their reasons for choosing to work? Half cited family financial necessity, while the other half mentioned a desire for economic independence, personal fulfillment, putting their studies into practice, or escaping the confines of the home. There was a strong focus on employment that went beyond its purely instrumental nature. Work opened the door to a new identity. She then analyzed how caregiving was organized: a process of substitution by other women who care for their children, either as paid caregivers or grandmothers. “The world of care is a universe, a crucial part of social reality that we are still mapping. It is a system involving the state, the family, the market, and the third sector.”