Policies of international academic mobility, processes of elite and state formation, and “returning” to Brazil

Abstract

Adopting a historical anthropological perspective, this article sets out to understand the role of policies promoting international academic mobility as a strategy for state-building and the formation of national elites in Brazil. I focus on analysing the sociogenetic processes underpinning these policies – particularly starting in the 1950s with the establishment of national agencies responsible for scientific research and advanced training abroad – and their reconfigurations over subsequent decades. Finally, the article explores the contemporary context of one such policy by examining the experiences of Brazilian PhD students who received public funding for their doctoral training at foreign institutions. Based on these trajectories, the discussion addresses how these state policies conceptualize the role of Brazilian researchers and students trained abroad, as well as the moral considerations arising from the convergences and divergences between state expectations and the life projects of these individuals.