The Construction of a Peripheral Scientific Agenda: Human and Medical Genetics in Brazil

• In Event: Decolonizing Science: Where Have We Gotten To? - I

Abstract

This paper seeks to advance the understanding of relations between centers and peripheries in the production of scientific knowledge, considering the discussion of the construction and legitimation of a peripheral research agenda in the field of human and medical genetics. To look at the construction of scientific agendas in terms of center and periphery is to take into account the assumption that scientific production is unevenly divided between different regions around the world (Medina, 2013; Keim, 2010; Alatas, 2003; Hountondji, 1990). Empirically, the work is based on quantitative data on the career and trajectory patterns of 416 Brazilian researchers in the field of human and medical genetics, as well as bibliometric analysis of their work in international co-authorship. In addition, 50 in-depth interviews were conducted in three Brazilian regions (North, South and Southeast). This paper analyses the representations of these researchers in terms of the strategies employed to negotiate and renegotiate national as well as international collaborations, alongside the constitution of research agendas, all of them presenting convergences and tensions regarding patterns and parameters of what has consensually been named “international science”. “Accessing samples” of indigenous populations emerges as a central element to understand (i) international collaboration strategies; (ii) tensions within these collaborations, (iii) the construction of a research agenda with specific characteristics – combining "ease of access", "originality" and "no direct competition" –, as well as (iv) the justification and legitimation of research in the local context.

Author

• Mariana Toledo Ferreira, Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia de Goiás