Meritocracia de laços: gênese e reconfigurações do espaço dos economistas no Brasil

Abstract: This study proposes to historically and socially embed the space of the economists in Brazil, addressing the ties between competing agents in order to establish boundaries and legitimacy principles of their knowledge and practice. The dissertation is dedicated to the study of economy experts who are in transit between the academy, the State, the private sector as well as between national and international spaces, emphasizing the convergence of two resources in accessing prestige and power positions: relationships with people and institutions and specialized credentials. Covering the period from the end of the 1930s to the beginning of 2000, the dissertation shows how the economists' space has become denser and which configurations and fragmentations prevailed at each point in time. Therefore, in order to emphasize the creation of ties over time, the analysis draws upon the interviews and secondary sources used to draw a network, which are presented at the end of each chapter. Data on social origins as well as professional careers was used to characterize each point of the system, revealing that bonds tend to be created between individuals who are socially similar, caused by structural proximity. The oxymoron "meritocracy of ties" features a study in which, despite the progressive appreciation of specialized qualification for the exercise of prestigious roles in economy, the importance of social capital as a route to access power is preserved as fundamental.