The Institutionalization of the Social History of Sciences in Brazil

The process of institutionalization of Social History of Sciences in Brazil, which began in the 1980s, was the outcome of a twofold movement: Brazilian scientists and their meetings with Latin American scientists, led by Juan José Saldaña. The meetings and congresses helped to structure the research, disseminate the theoretical principles of the social history of the sciences and the ways of conducting social history. Brazilian scientists organized research, structured an identity that, above all, expanded their work, founding an anti-colonial historiography that was taken beyond the country’s borders. Ethnocentrism was a reality. Forty years have passed and the social history of the sciences has been consolidated in the country, with important work on document preservation. Its work is now autonomous and enjoys international recognition.