Studying Sociology in Brazil: The Eternal Challenges

This paper revisits a debate that has accompanied sociology since its inception: the specificity of the discipline, which manifests itself not only in its subject matter, but also in its training. Our question is to see to what extent this traditional training has kept up with the challenges posed by social transformations since the 1990s. Our hypothesis is that, during this period, little or nothing was changed in the curricular matrix of undergraduate training, with disciplinary specialisations remaining in postgraduate studies. The social sciences course trains a generalist professional who ends up opting for the areas of sociology, anthropology or political science, or as is the case in the majority, leaves the area. We believe that the social sciences, and sociology as far as we are concerned here, require permanent reinvention in order to keep up with social changes, and this is mainly reflected in the training of its professionals.