Ciência do futuro: a comunidade de pesquisa e o ciclo da politica de nanociência no Brasil

Abstract

SANTOS JUNIOR, Jorge Luiz dos. Science of the future: the research community and the nanoscience policy cycle in Brazil. 2011. 215 p. Thesis (Social Science Doctorate in Development, Agriculture and Society). Human and Social Sciences Institute, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, RJ. 2011. Insofar as nanoscience and nanotechnology (N&N) permit the manipulation of individual atoms to create new (organic and inorganic) materials and combinations they can be viewed as Man’s latest incursion in the sphere of his efforts to dominate, transform and recreate nature. They arouse various kinds of interest and stir up controversies typical of a risk society, provoking critical views of the future of humanity and bringing with them a set of uncertainties and disputes that are consubstantiated in the institutionalization of this sector. This thesis analyses the participation of the scientific community in the nanoscience and nanotechnology policy cycle in Brazil by identifying and interpreting the inter-relations of the various actors that make up the complex network associated to this study area. To that end an analysis is made of the government programs, the configuration of the research groups, the performance of the social movements and the role of corporations, using as a reference framework Agency Theory, Social Studies in Science Technology and Society and in Relational Sociology. The Structural Analysis of Social Networks also serves as an important working method. The research concludes that a scientific community exists largely composed of actors from the fields of physics and chemistry, with special rights of entry in the entire policy cycle thereby revealing the State’s effective permeability in questions of science and technology policies. The fact has led to a considerable weakness of policy in regard to studies of ethical impacts, environmental risks or the participation of other fields of research in the discussions on the directions of science and technology in Brazil.