Research Areas
1. Sociology: theory and history
The line of research covers studies in the sociology of science and the analysis of the logical, methodological and theoretical foundations of research in social sciences, integrated or not, but always aimed at increasing sociology's reflection in relation to its cognitive, conceptual, heuristic and technical, a reflection that becomes more effective with the use of historical, theoretical and/or methodological reconstructions of the different currents of sociological thought, from the pioneers in the 19th century to the contemporary developments in the center and on the periphery.
Professors: Alexandre Braga Massella, André Nahoum, Antonio Sergio Guimarães, Fernando Pinheiro, Fraya Frehse, Helena Hirata, Laurindo Minhoto, Leopoldo Waizbort, Luiz Jackson, Maria Arminda do Nascimento Arruda, Maria Helena Oliva Augusto, Nadya Araujo Guimarães, Paula Marcelino, Ricardo Musse, Sergio Adorno, Sergio Miceli.
2. Political processes and public institutions – violence, rights, and citizenship
The line of research investigates the relationships between the symbolic universe, social representations, intellectual, scientific and artistic production, education and religion and the spheres of institutional and social power. The works developed explore the different modalities of inscribing culture within social life and political institutions, especially the State, covering a wide range of themes, from the areas of arts, literature, Brazilian social thought, cinema, social history intellectuals, scientists and specialists, the cultural industry, popular artistic expressions, education and religious affiliations. The empirical universe is explored according to several theoretical-methodological contributions, configuring itself both as a social world to be known, and as expressive forms to be interpreted from a sociological point of view.
Professors: Ana Paula Hey, Fernando Pinheiro, Leopoldo Waizbort, Luiz Jackson, Maria Arminda do Nascimento Arruda, Paulo Menezes, Reginaldo Prandi, Ricardo Musse, Sergio Miceli e Sylvia Garcia.
3. Classes, conflicts, urban life, and social movements
This line has two main objectives, towards which the agendas of its members converge: (i) develop analyzes of collective subjects in specific social configurations, under certain opportunity structures and in particular political circumstances; (ii) understand how, among the multiple identities that mark the social position of individuals, some of them are highlighted for social coexistence, for the production of social and symbolic borders, for political struggle and for the definition of structuring inequalities of social hierarchies.
Professors: Antônio Sergio Guimarães; Edison Bertoncello; Eva Alterman Blay; Helena Hirata; Márcia Lima; Maria Helena Oliva Augusto; Murillo Marschner; Nadya Araujo Guimarães; Paula Marcelino.
4. Economy, work and society
The connections between economy and society form the common ground for reflections in this line, which has a privileged prism of analysis in the work. The research covers five aspects. The first focuses on companies and policies at their nexus with innovation and development. In the second, the economy is examined as a conceptual construct representing reality. In the third are studies on the social construction of markets. The fourth follows the impacts of a digital economy on employment and work relations. The fifth focuses on the reconfiguration of workers' collective identities and union action in the face of new forms of expression and negotiation of their interests.
Professors: Alvaro Comin; André Nahoum; Glauco Arbix; Helena Hirata; Iram Rodrigues; Leonardo Mello e Silva; Nadya Araujo Guimarães; Paula Marcelino; Ruy Braga.
5. State, policy and collective actions
The line of research brings together studies on the relations of cooperation and conflict between society and the state, which define decision-making and the direction of public policies, investigating disputes between different social actors and their forms of mobilization and protest, representation of interests and expression of symbolic identities. It encompasses case studies about Brazil, comparisons between countries and regions and analyzes of transnational dynamics and interactions, in contemporary situations and long-term processes. Transdisciplinary in nature, it explores different theoretical and methodological perspectives, working on the borders of sociology with different disciplines of human sciences and in dialogue with exact and life sciences.
Professors: Alvaro Comin; Ana Paula Hey; Ângela Alonso; Brasílio Sallum; Glauco Arbix; Murillo Marschner; Ricardo Mariano; Sylvia Garcia; Sedi Hirano
6. Cities: interactions, inequalities and socio-spatial (i)mobilities
It focuses on the socio-spatial dimension of urban life according to three axes: the temporalities and spatialities of (non)daily social interactions mediated bodily and materially; conflictive forms and dynamics, which express and constitute practices and repertoires of spatial struggles and illegalism (informal/illegal markets); disputes around the flows of bodies, things, images and information, referred to mobility regimes and infrastructural fixed assets. Theoretical references come from urban sociologies, everyday life, conflict, space and mobilities, in interdisciplinary dialogue. We work with socio-ethnographic, documentary, audiovisual and mixed methods methods and techniques.
Professors: Bianca Freire-Medeiros; Fraya Frehse; Vera da Silva Telles.
7. Violence, rights and citizenship
The line of research explores different perspectives underlying the sociological way of thinking about violence in contemporary times. It includes theoretical and empirical studies on the modalities and dynamics of violence, including organized crime, distribution of crimes and violent events in time and space, organization of institutions responsible for controlling public order, preventive and repressive policies to contain violence and crimes, social processes of criminalization and punishment, studies on prisons and incarceration policies, social languages manifested in aesthetic and artistic expressions.
Professors: Bruna Gisi; Laurindo Minhoto; Marcos Alvarez; Sergio Adorno.