Transversalities and elective affinities in the formation of the scientific elite in the field of climate change

Abstract

The present article intends to point out the ways of reconversion of the scientific elites that more recently adjusted to the new research agenda of climate change. It is possible to see how the introduction of this issue in recent scientific policy made it possible to reorganize projects and lines of research in Brazil, favoring the established scientific groups more adapted to the theme. The case of the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) makes it possible to identify the elective affinities between elites in meteorology and climate studies and the new scientific agenda. A prosopography was made with the groups on the rise in the climate studies area between the 1990s and 2010s, pointing out the main exponents of these research groups connected to international research projects on climate change. At the end of the discussion, one can see a strong concentration of scientific capital in the area of climate change and a tendency to favor groups that are already consolidated and with high internationalization.

Keywords:
Scientific elites; Scientific capital; Climate change; Inpe