Covid-19 in Brazil

governance and the politics of expertise

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52780/res.v29i2.18926

Keywords:

Covid-19, Expertise, Risk, Science governance

Abstract

This article analyzes the Brazilian response to Covid-19, focusing on the role of science and expertise in technical decisions made throughout the pandemic. Based on recent bibliography, in addition to the analysis of documents and news articles about the development of the pandemic, we will analyze characteristics of the governance of the crisis taking into account the need to 1) explore the limitations of the concept of denialism to understand the governance of the pandemic by the Brazilian government; and 2) describe active forms of inaction and chaos production as a political strategy. We conclude that there was great effectiveness in propagating uncertainties (political and technical) about aspects of the national and global scientific consensus, as part of both the scientific and political strategy of government actors. Such uncertainties also helped to call into question the most usual and technocratic patterns of the relationship between expertise and politics in the country.

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Author Biography

Marko Monteiro, Departamento de Política Científica e Tecnológica da Universidade Estadual de Campinas – (UNICAMP), SP, Brasil

Marko Monteiro has a PhD in Social Sciences (University of Campinas, 2005). He has held postdoctoral positions at the University of Texas at Austin (2006-2008) and the University of Campinas (2009), both in Science, Technology and Society. He is currently Associate Professor at the Science and Technology Policy Department, University of Campinas, Brazil. His research interests lie in Science and Technology Studies (STS) and Anthropology of Science and Technology. He has worked with topics such as sociotechnical controversies; ethnographies of interdisciplinary scientific practice; and visual representation in science. He is currently conducting research related to the governance of science in Brazil, especially focusing on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and the Brazilian response to Covid-19. He is also the leader of GEICT – Interdisciplinary Research Group in Science and Technology (https://www.geict.com.br/)

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Published

01/11/2024

How to Cite

MONTEIRO, M.; DI GIULIO, G. Covid-19 in Brazil: governance and the politics of expertise. Estudos de Sociologia, Araraquara, v. 29, n. 2, 2024. DOI: 10.52780/res.v29i2.18926. Disponível em: https://periodicos.fclar.unesp.br/estudos/article/view/18926. Acesso em: 18 nov. 2024.

Issue

(2024), v. 29, n. 2 - Dossiê: Políticas de combate à pandemia da COVID-19, democracia sanitária e direito à saúde

Section

Articles

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