José Borzacchiello da Silva

A PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO EM GEOGRAFIA NO BRASIL: UMA CONTRIBUIÇÃO À POLÍTICA DE AVALIAÇÃO

No momento em que o processo de avaliacao da pos-graduacao em geografia suscita discussoes e criticas, a presente pesquisa adquire carater provocativo. Resulta de levantamento de dados e informacoes do sistema CAPES/CNPq, gerando possibilidade de cruzamento da producao cientifica docente do conjunto dos programas e cursos de pos-graduacao em geografia. Certamente contribuira para o aprimoramento do processo de avaliacao em curso, apontando a necessidade de reflexao constante, evitando enfoque produtivista e fragmentado, que gera competicao entre os programas e cursos. Palavras-chave: Pos-graduacao em geografia, avaliacao, produtividade. Abstract As the process of assessing postgraduate work in geography has raised discussions and criticism, this research has a challenging character. It comes from data collecting and information of CAPES/CNPq system, opening possibilities for crossing teaching scientific production of the programmes and courses of postgraduate work in geography. It will certainly contribute to improving the current evaluating process, pointing out the need for constant reflection, avoiding productivist, fragmented focus, which creates competition among programmes and courses. Key Words: Postgraduate work in Geography, evaluation, productivity.

ADEUS SUDENE, QUE SAUDADE DE CELSO FURTADO!

Resumen pt: O artigo foi concebido num contexto politico de forte discussao com opinioes controversas sobre a recriacao da SUDENE. Parte da constatacao da necessidad...

Periodization: A Suggestion

This chapter privileges the discussion of the periods of hegemony, of distancing, of exclusivity, and of new alliances and ruptures that are identified in the relations maintained between French geography and Brazil. It emphasizes the creation of the first university level geography courses in Brazil and the encouragement of the formation of qualified personnel, as well as an affirmation of this field of knowledge, outlining the institutionalization of geography in the country. It recognizes that foreign masters commanded the process of formation of Brazilian geography, providing, in our eyes, a completely new analytical reference point, thus amplifying the systematization of knowledge about the country. From this point onward, France would create roots in the country. A period of strong links begins, leading to various geographers, as well as other professionals, coming to Brazil. This flow becomes diluted as Brazilian universities develop a greater structure establishing laboratories, groups, and research nuclei and institutionalize a capacity building plan and the preparation of specialized personnel to replace foreign guests.

Antecedents: French Geography in Brazil

This chapter focuses on French geography starting from its tendencies and approaches. It identifies the diffusion of its lines of research through the world and mainly in Brazil, which permits comparative analyses to be established and the identification of differences in the political and cultural contexts of France and Brazil, in the attempt to clarify some approaches regarded as ambiguous. French geography sought to create centers of formation and research, based on the work of a few geographers, the preferential option being Lablachean geography, and using its institutionalization to its own advantage. These centers, at the same time that they were able to create the image of the world in France and of France in the world, became bibliographical references with an enormous capacity for publication and cultural diffusion, often being concerned with explaining a world which was quickly being transformed.

The Hegemony of French Geography in Brazil

This chapter focuses its discussion on the construction of the hegemony of French geography in Brazil and the importance attached to the performance of Pierre Monbeig. It reveals that a consultation carried out with three different authors, one French and two Brazilians, demonstrated a convergence of opinions, although each one emphasized different aspects. It considers the context of Brazil in the 1930s as being a moment with the lack of qualified personnel, meaning that the country had to open its doors to foreigners. Historically, travelers, naturalist, artists, and others would register their impressions concerning the reality of the areas that they visited, focusing on the aspects relating to scenery, characteristic types, spatial arrangement, types of construction, etc. These texts become a priceless documentation for the recovery of the Brazilian spatial dynamic in its beginnings.

New Geographers Enter the Picture

This chapter continues the discussion of periodization and from this angle deals with the arrival of new French geographers on the Brazilian scene and takes as its reference point those professionals who reinforced the French way of doing geography after the hosting of the UGI Congress of 1956, in Rio de Janeiro. It considers the affirmation of French geography after that event as fundamental, especially the activities of professionals of the stature of Pierre George, Michel Rochefort, and Bernard Kayser. Afterward, it focuses on Yves Lacoste and the great interest provoked by his ideas, increased by the way his book A Geografia Serve antes de mais nada para fazer a Guerra was read in Brazil. It emphasizes the success of the book in the circumstances the country was going through in 1977–1978.

Brazil in France

The chapter’s approach reveals how Brazilian geography comes to France in the period being analyzed and emphasizes the invitation that was made to Lysia Maria Cavalcante Bernardes, to minister the course “Types of urban networks in Brazil,” at IHEAL, Institute of High Studies of Latin America, in 1967. The title reveals the extent to which Brazilian geography was up to date at that time. The Brazilian guest worked on a theme which had a conceptual structure which was still regarded as a novelty in France. A rare moment of synchronicity between the two countries occurred, in terms of themes studied. In Toulouse, in this year, Milton Santos lectured on “Population and Food.” It is important to emphasize the way Brazil was discovered by France, as is revealed in research carried out in the INTERGEO Bulletin Number 10, of 1968 in which Brazil was the subject of books, research, and films.

The Production of Theses by Brazilians in France

On the political stage, scenes of accelerated modernization of the country were being drawn, based on programs of bilateral cooperation. This was a strong call, and in this call, France stood out. The situation of dependency remains, and France calmly takes advantage of its status as a role model for the world in diverse sectors. There is evidence of French supremacy at various levels in the relationships established in the fields of formation or internship in Geography above all those maintained between teachers and students, researchers and interns, and so forth. This becomes more intense in the period following 1934 when our sense of lack was complete and the discourse concerning progress takes it shape. The need to form personnel able to structure and maintain a satisfactory academic environment in Brazil involves nearly all areas of knowledge.

REESTRUTURAÇÃO PRODUTIVA E RECONFIGURAÇÃO DA ÁREA CENTRAL DE FORTALEZA

The text discusses the metropolitan theme from the perspective of productive restructuring, especially the spatial transformations and the reconfiguration of the central area of Fortaleza. The focus is placed upon the comprehension of the social-spatial processes in their configuration with fragments, residues and new centralities, which testify to the process of production of the city in the light of property restructuring as a strategy for the reproduction of capital. The hegemony of financial capital and of the national and transnational construction companies reinforces mechanisms of social-spatial reproduction altering the urban structure and the expansion of the urban sprawl. This text confirms the significance and importance of the condominiums, walled properties and shopping malls which alter the price of urban land and modify, above all, the use of the soil.

A PESQUISA E A PRODUÇÃO GEOGRÁFICA

Um breve historico da area da geografia indica que, no Brasil, a afirmacao da pos-graduacao stricto sensu se da a partir de 1971 quando foram criados os primeiros cursos. O Departamento de Geografia da USP - Universidade de Sao Paulo - foi pioneiro com a implantacao dos Programas de Pos-Graduacao de Geografia Humana e o de Geografia Fisica, nas modalidades de Mestrado e Doutorado. A UFRJ criou seu Programa de Pos-Graduacao em Geografia, curso de Mestrado, no ano de 1972. A atuacao desses programas nos seus primeiros anos foi fundamental para a afirmacao do ensino e da pesquisa academica em geografia no pais. E a partir desta data que a pos-graduacao responde com maior eficiencia as demandas sociais com a formacao de quadros especializados e com a producao geografica de qualidade. Na passagem temporal entre os primeiros cursos e os mais recentes, ampliou, sobremaneira, o interesse da sociedade pelo conhecimento produzido pela geografia. Deu-se, inclusive, o crescente aumento do numero de titulos publicados pela geografia, resultado das conquistas da area junto ao setor editorial pela publicacao de livros e revistas voltados a um publico especifico e a sociedade. Sao muitos os profissionais formados pelos programas de pos-graduacao que desempenham suas funcoes nos mais variados setores de atividade.