Tropicalization and the Politics of Knowledge Production at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa)

• In Event: A Atuação da Fundação Rockefeller no Brasil em Perspectiva Histórica II: Interações Políticas, Dinâmicas de Financiamento e Constituição de Modelos em Ensino, Pesquisa Assistência e Cooperação Técnica

Abstract

The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (known by its acronym Embrapa) is a public company that is tasked with the “development of innovative solutions for the sustainability of agriculture and for the benefit of Brazilian society”. Embrapa has long been considered one, if not the, “crowned jewel” of public institutions in Brazil due to its role in the rapid transformation of agriculture in the country and its supposed adherence to manage the agency around principles of scientific efficiency and a separation from troubled Brazilian politics. This paper challenges those assumptions of Embrapa by analyzing the politics of knowledge production at the agency. It is based on participatory observation in its laboratories and interviews with scientists that took place throughout 2017 at five different research centers and the headquarters of Embrapa. The paper argues that knowledge production at Embrapa is a function of the changing political organizational structure of the company together with the everyday negotiation between the interests and education of the scientists and management involved in research projects.

Author

• Ryan Nehring, Cornell University