Article: Communities or collectivities? The scientific making in information era

Abstract

This article particularly approaches the problem related to the concept of scientific community. It tries to answer the question of whether such concept is appropriate to describe/represent the reality of relations between scientists, and their relations with other social groups and instances involved in current production of scientific knowledge. As a counterpoint to the idea of community, the concept of scientific collectivity is presented, discussing its ability to express relations between scientists and the several instances involved in producing Science and Technology, so as to properly represent the concrete situation in which they take place. Afterwards, such theoretical debate is related to the actual problem of interactions between scientists and the State in Brazil, as well as the process of formulating and implementing Science and Technology policies in the country. Keywords: Science and technology politics, scientific community, scientific collectivity, science and technology.