ntellectual Disputes and Scientific Funding: The Ford Foundation and the Meanings of the 1964 Coup

Abstract

This article examines the tensions that marked the Brazilian sociological field during the 1960s, focusing on the clash between different scientific projects envisioned for the country in that context. It centers on the interpretative disputes between two groups of intellectuals over the meaning of the 1964 coup. On one side were those who viewed sociology as a privileged instrument for interpreting Brazilian reality, with Florestan Fernandes as their leading figure; on the other, intellectuals who turned to political science as the most suitable theoretical framework for understanding the event and its unfolding, with Wanderley Guilherme dos Santos standing out as a central reference. The central hypothesis is that these divergences went beyond theoretical disagreements, reflecting broader struggles within the social sciences field and expressing distinct positions regarding the competing projects of science and society at stake during the period. From a broader perspective, the article investigates how the rise and decline of these paradigms were shaped by institutional dynamics, particularly the role played by scientific funding agencies – with emphasis on the private funding provided by the Ford Foundation. These processes played a decisive role in the reconfiguration of the Social Sciences field in Brazil.