Tendências e dilemas da antropologia norte-americana: sobre a história do Instituto de Antropologia Social da Smithsonian Institution e sua presença no Brasil

Abstract

This paper is about the history of Smithsonian Institution's Institute of Social Anthropology, which was an agency in charge of the cooperation involving North-American researchers and Latin-American institutions in the social sciences, between 1943 and 1952. Taking into account the geopolitical context - marked by the war efforts, Good Neighborhood Policy and Technical Assistance and Development Programs - the Institute's trajectory expresses the interfaces between science and politics and also discloses the tensions between basic and applied research. Besides, the activities, positions and negotiations taken by Institute's staff illustrate some of American Anthropology's trends and dilemmas in the post-Second World War. The research program pursued in that moment tells us about the anthropological agenda in the continent. Smithsonian's anthropologists and sociologists were involved in teaching and researching in Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Brazil, yet this present work focuses on the bilateral agreement with Escola de Sociologia e Política de São Paulo.