Researchers and the Whirlwind: Scientific Evaluation Policies and Emotional Grammars

Abstract

This paper intertwines two fields: anthropology of emotions and sociology of intellectuals. It aims to examine (a) the relationship between scientific evaluation policies, in which the incitement to compete plays an essential role, and the emotional grammars therefore elicited; and (b) the role of emotions in the production of knowledge. Methodology is the conduction of in-depth interviews with Brazilian researchers about their careers, the emotional dimension of their success/failure experiences and their partnerships, rivalries and conflicts. The paper intends to contribute to the understanding of dilemmas and tensions elicited by these emotional grammars created by the competition imperative, such as implicitly stimulated by scientific evaluation policies´ guidelines in Brazil, and the derived suffering in academic life, with its impacts on graduate programs‘ performances, on the production of knowledge and on individual researchers‘ careers.