Research as state function? Ethnographic reflections on an institution in between

Abstract

Ipea is an institution that has the mission to carry out research on governmental actions (public policies, planning and development). However, this vocation for research as a function of the state has generated many tensions, among which one stands out: 'we exist: what are we for?' in a clear allusion to a Caetano Veloso's song. Called by them as an identity crisis of the "ipeanos", this tension generated interest in discussing the existence of a shared institutional ethos and, consequently, of carrying out an ethnography of the institution. This article thus outlines the configuration of the values in dispute within the institution, allowing us to apprehend Ipea as an institution that, due to its characteristics, produces more complex effects in state processes. In addition, we discuss the very notion of 'institutional ethos'. The article is therefore an effort to contribute to the understanding of this specific ethnographic universe, but also to raise appropriate questions to think about the relations between research and government activities in shaping a public institution.