This article presents an ethonographic account of the process of deliberation about affirmative actions at Universidade Federal do Paraná. The empirical approach of this controversial issue intends to bring new elements to the debate concerning the adoption of affirmative actions by brazilian public universities. At the same time, effort is made to identify the main principles underlying the establishment of institutional norms in that context. The analysis of ethnographic data suggests connections between the deliberation about affirmative actions and the logic of sacrifice as described by Marcel Mauss.
public policy; affirmative action; universities