Graduate Program in Social Sciences
PEDAGOGICAL PROJECT
The Graduate Program in Social Sciences (PPGCS) is based on the contribution between different fields of knowledge, offering an interdisciplinary work and research environment, organized in Lines of Research. The PPGCS brings together a teaching staff composed of professors originating not only from the different Departments of the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences (IFCH), but also from other Institutes, Centers and Nuclei at UNICAMP and even from other universities. The organization in Lines of Research is based on the epistemological conception according to which interdisciplinarity is produced in the academic exercise – at the practical and theoretical level – of establishing problematic fields for research from different perspectives.
The interdisciplinary nature of the Course is clearly expressed in its curriculum, which is structured around the Compulsory Subjects, which are prerequisites for taking the Qualification Exam, and the Elective Subjects, which can be taken throughout the period of the course.
The Compulsory Subjects have an emphasis on interdisciplinarity and aim to offer a common basic training, under four modes: one subject aimed at the theoretical and methodological issues involved in the construction of the research object and its approach strategies in Social Sciences (Theory and Methodology Seminar); one subject aimed at the empirical, theoretical and methodological bases of the specific Line of Research and its relationship with the broader framework of Social Theories (Fundamental Subjects); and two subjects dedicated to the discussion of the thesis work process: for the consolidation of the project (Project Seminar) and discussion of the first results of the thesis, with a view to the qualification stage (Thesis Seminar). Seminar subjects are taught collectively by the program’s faculty, with the professor responsible for their curatorship and evaluation. The Theory and Methodology Seminar and the Project Seminar must be held in the semester of entry into the course, due to their formative character and class composition. The Project Seminar is a prerequisite for the Thesis Seminar.
The presence of Academic Activities (I and II) in the block of Compulsory Subjects reinforces the concept that student participation in the academic life of PPGCS and IFCH is a key part of the interdisciplinary training intended by the Course. The Academic Activities I subject is a prerequisite for Academic Activities II. Elective Subjects include Advanced Topics, Guided Readings, and Fundamental Subjects. The two or more Fundamental Subjects of each Line of Research are offered alternately throughout the student’s years of study and the completion of at least one of them is a prerequisite for the Qualification Exam.
Common Compulsory Subjects:
1 – (CS664) Theory and Methodology Seminar – This seminar is compulsory for all incoming doctoral students and is organized around the discussion of texts, topics , problems and experiences that are crucial to the research process in Social Sciences. The subject will seek to cover two dimensions: the experiential dimension, which addresses the process of construction of research and its dilemmas of inclusion and exclusion, approximation, and distance, which translate into topics related to ethical and political choices and options for selecting the theoretical and analytical object, among others; and the conceptual dimension, in which the emphasis falls on how the choice of methodological strategies for research can be translated through the relationship between conceptual aspects that are classic in Social Sciences but are always revisited, such as micro and macro; qualitative and quantitative; structure and action; inequality and difference; and objectivity and subjectivity, among others.
2 – (CS665 and CS666) Academic Activities I and II – Proven extracurricular activities that reflect engagement in the academic life of the Graduate Program in Social Sciences (PPGCS) and the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences (IFCH), such as participation in seminars, organization of events, internships in research centers and nuclei, etc. The current dynamics of the subject and the documents proving participation in events are described below in the item Academic Activities I and II (CS665 and CS666).
Compulsory Subjects by Line:
1 – (CS662) Project Seminar – This seminar is organized around the discussion of the research projects of doctoral students, emphasis given on the object’s outline, the definition of methodologies and the theoretical framework faced in individual research.
2 – Fundamental Subjects – The two or more Fundamental Subjects of each Line of Research are offered alternately throughout the student’s years of completion and the completion of at least one of them is a prerequisite for the Qualification Exam.
3 – (CS663) Thesis Seminar – This seminar is organized around the discussion of the first results the thesis work of doctoral students, in view of the qualification stage, emphasizing the consolidation of the object’s outline, the definition of methodologies, and the theoretical framework faced in individual research.
Elective Subjects:
1 – Topics – Topical subjects have their program defined according to the research topics developed by the professors responsible for the subject, following their research interests and debate.
2 – Directed Reading – Directed Reading subjects are defined based on a text reading program established according to the research interests of the professors responsible for the subject and the participating students.
Credits
Students approved in PPGCS must obtain the total of 20 credits:
- Theory and Methodology Seminar (CS664) and Project Seminar (CS662) in the 1st semester of the course;
- Thesis Seminar (CS663) in the 3rd semester of the course;
- Fundamental and Academic Activities (CS665 and CS666) between the 1st and 4th semesters.
- Two electives along the course, before the thesis defense. One must be within the Line of Research.
Academic Activities I and II (CS665 and CS666)
The CS665 – Academic Activities I subject can be taken from the first semester of the course, its approval being a prerequisite for enrollment in the CS666 – Academic Activities II subject. Enrollment is normally carried out through the DAC system.
The credits and semiannual approval for Academic Activities I and II will be obtained through the submission of forms for participation in FIVE events held within the scope of UNICAMP.
Compliance with these subjects is a prerequisite for the qualification exam.
Proficiency
The student must demonstrate proficiency in English and at least one other foreign language. It is mandatory to present proof of mastery in English before the interview phase of the selection process, while the second document must be submitted before the qualification exam.
Failure to present proof of mastery in the 1st language by the agreed date may be an impediment to enrollment in the second semester.
PPGCS accepts as a foreign language: German, French, English, Spanish, Italian, and Chinese/Mandarin.
Documents accepted will include (a) completion certificates of language courses recognized by the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC), valid for up to five years; (b) internationally recognized proficiency certificates: TOEFL, TOEIC, CAMBRIDGE, IELTS, DELF, DALF, DELE, GOETHE, CELI, and CILS; and (c) the CEL certificate of proficiency of UNICAMP.
Qualification Exam
The fulfillment of 14 credits, referring to the subjects (CS664) Theory and Methodology Seminar, (CS662) Project Seminar, (CS663) Thesis Seminar, Fundamental Subject and (CS665 and CS666) Academic Activities I and II is a prerequisite for the Qualification Exam.
Deadlines
The deadlines established by the PPGCS are:
Scholarship Holder: 26 and 48 months for qualification and defense, respectively.
Non-Scholarship Holder: 32 and 61 months for qualification and defense, respectively.
The payment period for all students is 61 months.
The deadline for requesting recontinuation is 12 months, after discontinuation of the Course.
INFRASTRUCTURE
The PPGCS has its own department (scpgcsoc@unicamp.br), in addition to institutional support from the IFCH, and shares with the other graduate programs of the institute an administrative meeting room, three mini-auditoriums, three multimedia rooms, and nine classrooms, in addition to two auditoriums with a capacity for 200 people. The IFCH also has a print shop that supports publications from the academic community, including books and periodicals from its departments, programs, centers, and nuclei.
Additionally, PPGCS professors and students also have access to documentation centers and are part of research laboratories, centers and nuclei that feature their own rooms, equipment, and on occasion, libraries, which considerably extends the program’s infrastructure.
Center for Rural Studies (CERES) – interdisciplinary research group that brings together researchers, professors and students who are interested in the study of the social processes and relationships of stakeholders, institutions and situations related to the rural world in national or international contexts;
Research Center on Indigenous Ethnology (CPEI) – an interdisciplinary reference group for researchers from different institutes and departments of UNICAMP who work with topics related to indigenous studies;
Center for Public Opinion Studies (CESOP) – an interdisciplinary group that articulates academic circles and private research institutes for Public Opinion, Political and Social Behavior and Research Methods. Its main purpose is to develop scientific research on political and social behaviors;
Center for Gender Studies (PAGU) – an interdisciplinary group that seeks to dialogue with feminist and gender theories, in research with different aspects of the issues associated with the concept of gender;
Center for Migration Studies (CEMI) – a research center whose fundamental concern is in the comparative study and in phenomena linked to international migrations;
Center for Environmental Studies and Research (NEPAM) – an interdisciplinary group whose purpose is to explore environmental issues, interventions in environmental issues, and teaching in the environmental area, integrating UNICAMP to the community in general;
Center for Marxist Studies (CEMARX) – a group that brings together undergraduate and graduate students at IFCH, featuring a program of studies and publications related to Marxism theories;
Center for Union Studies and Labor Economics (CESIT) – an interdisciplinary group that brings together researchers from different academic backgrounds with an interest in the various topics related to the world of labor, social issues, and policies.
Center for Advanced Studies (CEAV) – an interdisciplinary group that seeks to integrate, in its organization and direction, the various academic areas, in terms of undergraduate, graduate, research, and institutional and international relations. It currently comprises three groups: Higher Education, Advanced Sports Studies, and Brazil-China Studies.
Center for Brazilian Studies (CEB) – a forum of debates and interdisciplinary group in the Human Sciences, focusing on the reflections on social thinking in Brazil;
Elza Berquó Population Study Nucleus (NEPO) – an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research unit in the field of Demography and Population Studies;
UNICAMP Memory Center (CMU) – the body responsible for capturing, organizing, preserving, making available and disseminating documentary collections, especially those related to the city of Campinas, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, as well as producing research and publishing interdisciplinary books and journals with an emphasis on the articulation between memory and history;
Alexandre Eulálio Documentation Center (CEDAE) – the body that keeps documents related to the life and work of Brazilian writers. The space presents appropriate conditions for the organization and conservation of materials related to archives of personal, institutional and diverse collections, assuming the task to gather documents of literary and linguistic interest;
Edgard Leuenroth Archive (AEL) – a center for research and social documentation of national and international reach, which allows a remarkable base of archives for research and infrastructure in the organization of exhibitions.
COMPUTER SYSTEMS BOARD
PPGCS has full access to the services offered by the IFCH Computer Laboratory. The laboratory offers continuous technical support to the academic (teaching, research, and extension) and administrative activities of the IFCH, computer services available on the network, development of pages and databases on the Internet, and recording of audio and/or video of the events of the institute, some of which are transmitted online.
IFCH, including all areas, features are more than 350 workstations available for use by students, staff, and professors.
PROF. DR. OCTAVIO IANNI LIBRARY
The Library of the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences of the State University of Campinas stands out as one of the main libraries of Philosophy and Human Sciences in Brazil and Latin America. This recognition is mainly thanks to the quality of its collection, which is a reference standard for researchers in the field. The IFCH Library is conceived and maintained as an indispensable tool for teaching and research. Seeking to keep pace with the development of IFCH research, the Library keeps its bibliographic collection permanently up to date. Its collection – composed of: books, theses, dissertations, special materials (CDs, DVDs, maps, microforms, slides), periodicals and a special collection in Art History – is freely accessible and can be consulted through the Online Catalog. It also provides access to UNICAMP’s Digital Library and to a massive amount of electronic research resources, consisting of electronic journals, national and international databases, e-books, and primary sources, which can be accessed at the library or at the user’s home via VPN access.
SELECTION PROCESS
The PPGCS selection process includes both the academic merit criterion (Research Project) and the professional career (Curriculum Vitae and Interview), as well as the ethnic-racial and socioeconomic inclusion criteria, guaranteed both by the adoption of a reserve of dedicated places to self-declared black or indigenous applicants, as well as the priority given in offering scholarships to these students. None of these criteria overlap, however, with the basic criteria of adequacy of the project to the Lines of Research of the PPGCS and availability of the teaching staff for advisory roles – limited by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) to the number of eight advisory roles, including all programs in which the professor participates. The selection process of each Line of Research is conducted by its own panel, whose work is coordinated by the coordinator of the PPGCS Board. At the time of registration, the applicant must clearly indicate the Line of Research they intend to enter and whether they are opting for the ethnic-racial quota system. The panels have full autonomy in their assessment and, at the end of the process, will provide a single score for each of the steps taken by the applicant.
The selection processes for the PPGCS are governed by a specific notice published annually for this purpose. The applicant interested in participating in the process should consult the specific notice of the current year of interest, for guidance on procedures and on the rules of the process. The information provided here is of an introductory nature.
The selection is carried out in three eliminatory stages.
1 – In the first stage (registration approval), the PPGCS Department and the area coordinators assess whether the applicant has delivered all the required documentation – through the channels established in the public notice – and whether the summary of the project is appropriate to the course description of the field in which the applicant made the registration.
2 – In the second stage (project assessment), the quality of the project is considered (quality of the text; originality and relevance of the proposal; clarity of the objectives and methodology; knowledge of the relevant bibliography; and feasibility of the work plan); and availability of professors to serve as advisors to the project.
3 – The third stage of the interview assesses the applicant’s sociopolitical, professional and academic journey (through their letter and Curriculum Vitae), their ability to defend the presented project, their ability to dialogue with any adjustments suggested in the project; and their willingness to participate in the academic life of the PPGCS during the course period.
The applicant must submit the proof of proficiency in the English language during the selection process and should preferably submit such proof during registration. In the event that the applicant does not have the proof at this date, they can still deliver it at the time of the interview. Applicants who fail to submit proof of English proficiency will be considered disapproved. Successful applicants must also present proof of proficiency in a second language, with Spanish, French, German, Italian and Chinese/Mandarin being eligible and should preferably submit proof of the second language during registration. In the event that the applicant does not have the proof at this date, they can still deliver it after registration, until the date of scheduling of the qualification exam. In the case of foreign applicants, proficiency in Portuguese must also be proven – this will be required at the time of registration. All proof of proficiency submitted for analysis by the Selection Committee. The following will be accepted:
a) Completion certificates for language courses recognized by the MEC;
b) Proficiency certificates issued by Graduate Programs acknowledged by the MEC;
c) Internationally acknowledged proficiency certificates: TOEFL, TOEIC, CAMBRIDGE, IELTS, DELF, DALF, DELE, GOETHE, CELI, CILS;
d) Proficiency certificate from the Language Teaching Center (CEL) of UNICAMP (check the annual CEL/UNICAMP test calendar at https: //www.cel.unicamp).
LINES OF RESEARCH
1) Social Processes, Identities and Representations of the Rural World
Established in 1985 under the name “Agriculture and Agrarian Question” and reformulated with the current name in 2001, this area focuses on the study of social processes in progress in the rural world, their representations, and the agrarian roots in social thought. It also addresses the study of the agrarian question and the problem of rural populations and traditional rural peoples, their diversity, and their transformations. The Line of Research is interested in its forms of sociability, institutions, mobilizations, identities, uses, and ways of appropriating land and other natural resources. It should be noted that this area maintains a rich dialogue and partnership with university research centers and nuclei, in particular the Center for Rural Studies (CERES), the Center for Environmental Studies and Research (NEPAM), and the Center for Studies and Research in Indigenous Ethnology (CEPEI).
The courses and ongoing research are organized around the following topics:
· Identity and territorial processes
· Modes of production and appropriation of the territory
· Social production of demands and rights
· State and public policies
· Rural social movements
· Agrarian question and social sciences
· Migration and displacement in the rural world
· Environmental issues and the rural world
Associated Center or Nucleus:
Center for Rural Studies – CERES
Head Professor
· Marilda Aparecida de Menezes
Permanent Professors
· José Maurício P. Andion Arruti
· Sonia Maria P. P. Bergamasco
Collaborating Professor
2) Gender Studies
Created in 1993, as the Family and Gender Relations area, adopting, from 2004, the name Gender Studies, this line of research is dedicated to understanding the various aspects of relations involving gender in social life. The line seeks to provide instruments for the theoretical and methodological refinement of research in this field, from an interdisciplinary perspective, aiming at providing student education and the constitution of research groups. The line has focused its efforts on making the articulations between gender and other differentiation categories intelligible, also considering the interfaces between gender and various manifestations present in the social world.
The courses and ongoing research are organized around the following topics:
· Corporalities, Science, and Technology;
· Sexuality: eroticism, pornography, sex markets, sex work, sexual diversity, sexual policies, reproductive technologies;
· Life course, generations, and care;
· Cultural production: artistic production; media;
· Violence; legal practices; penitentiary institutions; human trafficking;
· Family relationships: conjugality; parenting; kinship;
· Intimacy; loving relationships;
· Feminism, arenas of agency and political action;
· Work relationships;
· Migration, mobility and transnationality;
· State, Human Rights, Truth Commission and Political Missing Persons.
It should be noted that this line maintains a rich dialogue and partnership with university research centers and nuclei, in particular the PAGU Gender Studies Center (PAGU/UNICAMP).
Associated Center or Nucleus:
Gender Studies Center – PAGU
Head Professor
Regina Facchini
Permanent Professors
· Maria Lygia Quartim de Moraes
· Natália Padovani
· Ângela Maria Carneiro Araújo
Collaborating Professor
3) Labor, Politics and Society
The Labor, Politics and Society line of research was established in 2001, bringing together professors from the departments of Anthropology, Political Science, and Sociology. It originates from the expansion and reformulation of the former area of Labor and Unionism, created in 1988. Reflecting its pluralist and interdisciplinary vocation, this line integrates a broad spectrum of theoretical interests and methodological approaches from the Social Sciences, without neglecting the dialogue with other relevant subjects. The area emphasizes the need for a dynamic articulation between empirical research and theoretical reflection, either in the form of a theory anchored in research or in the form of theoretically informed research.
The area features 4 thematic axes:
· Forms of collective action;
· Forms of work manifestation;
· Labor and social order;
· Theoretical axes.
It is important to mention that this area maintains a rich dialogue and partnership with university research centers and nuclei, in particular CEMARX (Center for Marxist Studies) and PAGU (Center for Gender Studies), whose professors are associated.
Associated Center or Nucleus:
Center for Union Studies and Labor Economics – CESIT
Head Professor
· Ângela Maria Carneiro Araújo
Permanent Professors
· Giovanni Antonio Pinto Alves
· Liliana Rolfsen Petrilli Segnini
4) Modes of knowledge and their expressions
Established in 1985 – then with the name Intellectual Itineraries and Ethnography of Knowledge – this line of research has been dedicated to training and research with scientific and non-scientific knowledge, from the standpoint of its practitioners, the temporality of their practices, relationships and conceptions, and the configuration of this knowledge as differences. Pioneering in research with ethnography of science and knowledge, intellectual trajectories, and biographical and ethnographic narratives, this line aims at the theoretical invention and methodological experimentation, promoting non-disciplinary research with: 1) practices and experiences that make up different modes of knowledge and 2) procedures, techniques, languages and materials involved in their modes of expression or, in a broad sense, their writings.
Thematic axes:
- Knowledge, experience and their writings: this thematic axis aims to stimulate research in the following areas: (1) the status of description and narratives in different aesthetics and combined writings, comprising (auto-)biographies, ethnographies, journals, travel reports, collections, and archives; (2) the devices, narrations, aesthetics and technologies of life and death.
- Knowledge and their expressions: it reflects on the modes of perception, understanding and symbolization of the world and life through its fictional, non-fictional and/or hybrid narrative expressions, productions in image, sound and/or in audiovisual format, as well as achievements within the scope of new art media.
- Images, writings and expressive forms: this thematic axis incorporates research that combines methodological experiences in its topics, which are capable of enhancing the modes of knowledge. The theoretical and research proposals of this axis are located in the conceptual challenges of displacing the boundaries between writing, images, sound and artifacts under different supports and/or languages, and in the creation of intersections, assemblies and combinations as heuristic potentialities and expressive modes of knowledge.
- Socio-anthropological studies on (techno-)sciences: it incorporates research focusing on assemblages between contemporary sciences, their areas and diverse topics (technologies, communication, body, health, environment). It questions the paradigms of technological development and innovation in the context of capitalism, as well as the diverse social practices that (re-)produce social inequalities in articulation with the state and the market. The theoretical and political propositions of this axis are inspired by practices of producing knowledge that is situated and committed to the decolonization of thought and ways of acting and existing in the world.
- Arts of living in the Anthropocene: it welcomes research that is engaged with new thought practices, contemporary processes of subjectivation, compositions and ways of existence that assert themselves in light of the exhaustion of anthropocentrism. It involves the materiality involved in cosmopolitical alliances and critical zones between human, animal, plan, mineral, supernatural and digital worlds – including arts, sciences, philosophies, and technologies. It seeks to work with research that promotes encounters between differences, and which require the Social Sciences to experiment with new ways of researching, imagining, and writing.
Associated Center or Nucleus:
LA’GRIMA – Anthropological Writing and Image Laboratory
Labirinto – Laboratory of Socio-Anthropological Studies on Life Technologies – Labjor/Nudecri
LIC – Scientific Image Laboratory
Genecine – Study group on cinematographic and audiovisual genres
MultiTÃO group
Head Professor
Permanent Professors
· Alfredo Luiz Paes de Oliveira Suppia
· Carolina Cantarino Rodrigues
Collaborator
5) China-Brazil Relations Studies
This area was created in the first half of 2012 with the proposal to develop an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the relations between China and Brazil. In an unprecedented way, relations with China began to occupy a key place in the process of changing Brazil’s position in the world, and the BRICS phenomenon is also increasingly relevant today. Brazil is unprepared for this change and the founding of this area, as a result of the work of the professors in the Brazil-China study group at UNICAMP’s Center for Advanced Studies, aims to contribute to changing this situation. The area combines perspectives developed in the following fields of activity: economics, sociology, international relations, environmental studies, and innovation.
Professors in this area are organized around the following topics:
· Cultural globalization
· Economic globalization
· Transformations of international and supranational relations
· Environment – comparative policy
· Innovation – politics and development in comparative terms
· Federalism and forms of government in a comparative perspective
Additionally, as of 2012, this area had 5 research projects on topics closely associated with the lines of investigation listed above.
· Youth sociology in BRICS countries
· Values, projects and lifestyles of young Chinese and Brazilian university students
· Dimensions of the China-Brazil Environmental Policy
· Federalism – comparative optics
It is important to emphasize that this area maintains a rich dialogue and partnership with various bodies at UNICAMP, such as the Institutes for Teaching and Research in Economics (IE), Geosciences (IG) and Philosophy and Human Sciences (IFCH), the dialogue with the Center for Advanced Studies (CEAv) being a highlight. In the IFCH, it maintains a permanent dialogue and partnership with the Center for Public Opinion Studies (CESOP) and the Center for Environmental Studies and Research (NEPAM). At the international level, it keeps personal and/or institutional relationships with the Center for Advanced Studies in the Humanities – University of Fudan; Institute of Sociology – Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; and the Center for the Study of Contemporary China – Peking University, among others.
Associated Center or Nucleus:
Head Professor
Permanent Professors
· Valeriano Mendes Ferreira Costa
Collaborating Professor
6) City Studies
Established in 2015, this area aims to investigate social life in contemporary urban settings. To this end, it offers, as teaching research in Social Sciences, both current topics (territory, inequality, migration, politics, violence, and religion, among others), as well as the possibility of knowledge and articulation of quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
I. List of Fundamental Subjects:
- The city and its sociodemographic dynamics
The course aims to develop a theoretical and methodological reflection on aspects related to the production of cities, as well as their sociodemographic counterparts, particularly the process of redistribution and socio-spatial differentiation of the population. In this sense, it is intended not only to present different theoretical and methodological views on the study of the urban phenomenon, but also to address sociodemographic issues arising from the urbanization process, with special attention to technical elements and data sources.
- Urban Ethnographies
This course has a two-pronged approach, involving theory and methodology. First, it aims to offer the student the trajectory of the city object in social science theories: from the Chicago School to more contemporary debates. Second, it aims to deepen the theoretical reflection on the ethnographic method based on readings of ethnographies in urban environments.
Head Professor
Permanent Professors
· Ronaldo Rômulo Machado de Almeida
Collaborator
7) Heritage and Memory Studies
This line is dedicated to critical reflection on social, political and professional practices related to “cultural heritage” and “social memory,” contemplating issues of a theoretical, methodological and ethical nature that are relevant to both and each of these thematic sub-areas.
The proposal has a disciplinary focus on Social Sciences. While acknowledging the heterogeneity of its research objects, it covers transversal topic, including the links between heritage, memory, and the following subjects, among others:
· Construction, reconfiguration or consolidation of socialities, identities, territorialities, feelings of belonging and citizenship;
· Sociocultural processes associated with situations of poverty, conflict, war, environmental impacts, and their overcoming;
· Implementation and assessment of cultural and socioenvironmental policies.
Studies on Cultural Heritage and Memory resurface simultaneously as a matter of political controversy and innovative academic debate, in an environment in which reflection is enriched by the solid contributions traditionally offered by history, architecture and urbanism, archeology, arts, museology, education, and legal studies, which also undergo major changes.
This is a highly consolidated line of professional and political activity, involving the preparation of reports, as well as consulting work alongside civil society organizations or agencies that are responsible for creating and implementing public policies. Thus, practical guidance projects are welcomed in the same way as academic studies on the preservation and safeguarding of material and immaterial heritage and the relationship between cultural and territorial rights, among many others.
Fundamental Subjects.
I. Formation of the area of studies on heritage and memory in the social sciences and related subjects.
II. Contemporary debates, addressing conceptual, methodological and ethical issues of interest regarding the issue currently researched and innovation in the field.
Head Professor
· Antonio Augusto Arantes Neto
Permanent Professors
· Artionka Manuela Góes Capiberibe
· José Maurício Paiva Andion Arruti
Collaborator
Difference and diversity: Contemporary challenges for Social Sciences
Given its contemporary centrality, the topic of difference in articulations with the production of inequalities and diversity covers research from different disciplinary traditions in the Social Sciences, enabling an interdisciplinary dialogue and a powerful international interlocution. Traditionally, the topic of inequalities in the Social Sciences has brought together studies on labor, social classes, and the state, in investigations aimed at understanding labor relations in the country, their transformation processes, and the policies that accompany them. Aspects related to economic and social development in the country, also considering Latin America and the way in which the region articulates itself with global changes regarding labor, have also gained prominence in the debate on inequalities. Studies on race and ethnicity remained central to this debate, as the study of political participation and collective action played a key role in understanding the social dynamics regarding labor relations and the organization of social classes in Brazil, expressing themselves in investigations on social movements, political parties, unions, etc. In the last decades, the interest in work and social classes as structuring agents of the social world – and, therefore, of the inequalities they engender – has divided space with the relations that involve gender, sexuality, generation (youth and aging), racialized social relations, ethnicity, nationality, and social thought as categories concerning the production of difference, operating in articulation. The debate on prejudice, violence and discrimination is also included, as well as the analysis of the policies therein involved and the production processes of subjects and categories. Furthermore, the discussion on social inequalities has been accompanied by theoretical perspectives aimed at understanding social and cultural diversity. In this context, the production of knowledge, the role of intellectuals, the conflicts between different worldviews and the relationships between nature, culture and technology have been questioned in the analyses of the conflict in indigenous, rural and urban contexts. The topic of the difference combined with the way it produces inequalities and diversity simultaneously involves processes at the most different scales, which could hardly be understood without the adoption of an international research perspective.
Coordinator:
Mário Augusto Medeiros da Silva
Program:
Social Anthropology, Political Science, Social Sciences, Sociology
Methodology and Teaching: Challenges and Innovations in Human Sciences
The field of Human Sciences has advanced significantly in the use of analysis and teaching methodologies. With the evolution of technology, it is possible to aggregate a large universe of information and refine the mechanisms of data collection and analysis. New tools allow the collection and crossing of data with a degree of speed and accuracy that was unthinkable 20 years ago. To develop their work, researchers from different fields of humanities constantly update classic methods of analysis, as well as creating, in a creative way, new ways of understanding social reality. Given the need to train researchers who are connected with advanced research techniques, the graduate programs at IFCH propose a project on methodology in Human Sciences aimed at research and teaching. The project focuses on qualitative and quantitative methodologies and features a multidisciplinary approach format involving ten PPGs from the Institute. The structure of the project allows each technique to be explored across the board, contributing to the training of researchers and offering the opportunity to learn innovative techniques with a broad application in the various areas of Human Sciences. Multidisciplinary methodologies also aim to improve teaching at a higher level and, mainly, to enable society’s access to the results of university research, with special attention to the dialogue with professor training, the challenges of Basic Education and the need to speak to increasingly broader audiences. Moreover, the project will allow international networks of researchers to be established, enhancing the internationalization process of the Brazilian human sciences, stimulating international collaborations, giving visibility to IFCH/UNICAMP research and graduate programs, and enabling the international consolidation of existing research centers and nuclei at the institute. Initially, we propose to deepen methodologies such as Historical Analysis of Events, Sources and Archives, Public History and Digital History, Population Projections, Multilevel Analysis applied to Human Sciences, Qualitative Analysis and Mixed Methods, Game Theory, Experiments in Social Sciences, Ethnography Digital, Ethnography of Images and Writings, Ethnography in Archives, and Kinship Networks.
Coordinator:
Nashieli Rangel Loera
Program:
Environment and Society, Social Anthropology, Political Science, Social Sciences, Demography, Philosophy, History, Professional History Education, International Relations, Sociology
Cross-Sectional Views on Democracy: Advances, Flows, Setbacks and Contradictions
The notion of “democracy,” its trajectory as a concept and social model, and the flow of ideas and concepts that accompany it, as well as the concrete developments in the social life of democratic processes, are currently among the great topics of the human and social sciences. From the standpoint of Political Science, the advance in the number of democratic states with the third wave of re-democratization has boosted the studies of the types of regime, institutions, conditions that would allow states to consolidate themselves as democracies, and the need to deepen democratic relations in states and between states. Still, the numerical advance of democratic states has been surrounded by expectations regarding the different spheres of social life, which can be summarized in the idea that we would achieve a fairer, more equal and more inclusive world. The political dynamics of democracies face obstacles in light of disparities in political and economic power between states and the dynamics of the international system, in which the United States plays a structuring role. Although advances have taken place in the late 20th century and early 21st century, as in the case of social rights, these were not without contradictions. The most obvious is that between the democratic ideal and representative democracy or liberal democracy. We have democratic states with more inclusive social policies, but without real equality among citizens, which is revealed in economic, political, social and cultural terms. These contradictions are a crucial raw material for sociological or anthropological studies. Advances in the recognition of diversity in diverse national contexts, which have allowed both the recognition of ethnic territories and traditional populations and the affirmative policies of ethnic-racial and sexual and gender diversity, have been a crucial part of recent democratic processes, and currently find themselves under social tensions that pose dilemmas for democracy. Within a broader framework of nation-states, mainly Latin American countries also stand out for the precarious way in which the memory of state crimes has been addressed, with timid revisions and even nostalgia for military regimes in contexts of rising fascist ideologies, which have won votes and seats in parliaments. The international outline is imposed by the topic itself, which is better understood from a comparative multidisciplinary perspective.
Coordinator:
Oswaldo Martins E. do Amaral
Program:
Social Anthropology, Political Science, Social Sciences, Sociology
IFCH Graduate Department
Rua Cora Coralina, 100, Campinas, SP, Brazil, CEP 13083-896
Service
Monday to Friday
From 9:30 am to 11:30 am and from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm
Tel: +55 19 3521-1615
Secretary: Beatriz Tiemi Suyama
Email: scpgcsoc@unicamp.br