The associations hereby signed manifest their indignation and extreme concern with the recent statements made by the President and Ministry of Education with regard to academic courses on Philosophy and Social Sciences in Brazil.
The statament demonstrates the most complete lack of knowledge about science and the production of scientific knowledge. It is erroneous and misleading to assess the various disciplines and philosophic reflections on the basis of their immediate applicability. The statement also demonstrates a flagrant lack of knowledge about the historical importance of social sciences and applied sciences in the development of different technologies aimed at solving serious problems of societies.
The debate promoted by the human and social sciences, including philosophy, has been crucial to the conceptualization and evaluation of public policies and to the critical development of other sciences. It is unacceptable to consider these disciplines as a “luxury”, which can be subject to funding restrictions in times of economic crisis, such as the one currently experiencing in the country, or else “downgraded” in result of political-ideological motivations.
Brazilian Association of Anthropology – ABA (Maria Filomena Gregori, Unicamp)
Brazilian Association of Sociology – SBS (Carlos Benedito Martins, UnB)
Brazilian Association of Political Science – ABCP (Flávia Biroli, UnB)
National Association of PhD Studies and Research in Social Sciences – ANPOCS (Renato Sergio de Lima, FGV)
