Knowledge Production in the Periphery: An Overview of Brazilian Human Genetics

This paper seeks to discuss the integration of Brazilian research on human and medical genetics in the global context, analyzing processes of international division of scientific labor among Brazilian laboratories, accounting for it through the analytical framework of center/periphery dynamics. In parallel, I intend to analyze the influence of the international circulation of ideas and researchers – and the growing internationalization of higher education – in the careers of Brazilian human geneticists, upon their return to the country after a period abroad. To look at the division of scientific labor as well as at knowledge circulation in terms of center and periphery is to take into account the assumption that scientific production is unevenly divided between different regions around the world. For this analysis, centers and peripheries are conceived as relational concepts, thus considering that both “central” and “peripheral” forms of science are heterogeneous entities, which include a variety of practices and methodologies. Empirically, the work is based on quantitative data on the career and trajectory patterns of 416 Brazilian researchers in the field of human and medical genetics, as well as bibliometric analysis of their work in international co-authorship. In addition, 50 in-depth interviews were conducted in three Brazilian regions (North, South and Southeast) in order to investigate in more detail the different dilemmas, difficulties and strategies of knowledge production in the periphery.