National Academies Press: OpenBook

Field Guide to Brazil (1960)

Chapter: Front Matter

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1960. Field Guide to Brazil. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18401.
×
Page R1
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1960. Field Guide to Brazil. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18401.
×
Page R2
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1960. Field Guide to Brazil. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18401.
×
Page R3
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1960. Field Guide to Brazil. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18401.
×
Page R4
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1960. Field Guide to Brazil. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18401.
×
Page R5

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

Field Guide Series Number Five Committee on International Anthropology of the Division of Anthropology and Psychology FIELD GUIDE TO BRAZIL U1 H. W. Hutchinson Publication 908 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES—NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL Washington, D. C. 1960

Library of Congress Catalog Number: 61-60066

PREFACE This guide to field research in Brazil is one of a series being is- sued under the auspices of the Committee on International Anthropology, which was established in 1957 by the Division of Anthropology and Psy- chology of the National Academy of Sciences — National Research Coun- cil. The project has been made possible by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The Committee is composed of the following: Charles Wagley, William R. Bascom, Ralph L. Beals, George M. Foster, Alexander H. Leighton, David G. Mandelbaum, and Bernard J. Siegal, with Mary Jean Kennedy as Executive Secretary. The proposal that such field guides be prepared came from a con- ference of anthropologists held at Columbia University in December, 1956. The Committee has treated the project as an experimental one, recognizing that the audiences to be addressed are rather diverse, e.g. , the research worker with a project and area in hand, graduate training seminars, the social scientist wanting to make professional contacts, and that the materials would have to be stated mostly in general terms. Specific information might become rapidly outdated, and discussion of some of the most crucial and delicate problems concerning relations of the anthropologist with governing authorities, the indigenous elite groups, and other interested parties in a given field situation might have to be glossed over. Five significant areas were chosen by the Committee for a first set of field guides: India and Pakistan, Japan, a zone of West Central Africa, Oceania and Brazil. It is hoped that, should they prove useful, similar guides may be prepared on other important areas, wheth- er under the Committee's auspices or otherwise. The purpose of these field guides is to provide information which the research worker, entering an area for the first time, should have in order to plan his trip, get clearances from governments, deal with interested scientific institutions and scholars, comport himself properly in relations with local leaders, and establish generally a favorable work- ing status for himself prior to the point where he applies his professional techniques to the problem in hand. These matters of administration and diplomacy complicate scientific work in every area, but they are rarely referred to in the literature on "field work methods. " They are partic- ularly serious for the anthropologist, who must live and work in indig- enous settings often in remote places. Yet, they also face the scien- tific visitor in any other discipline. An economist or entomologist iii

may find his work hampered by a non-cooperative official, or access to local helpers blocked as a result of antagonizing a religious leader. It is hoped, therefore, that, though the guides have been prepared by anthropologists, and for convenience are addressed to anthropologists, they will prove to be of use to research workers in other scientific fields. The Committee chose in the case of each guide an anthropological specialist with recent field work experience in the area concerned to write a first draft, with the exception of India, for which two authors were chosen. The resulting manuscript was put into the hands of at least four carefully selected additional specialists, who undertook to offer their comments in writing. Members of the Committee also read the manuscript and discussed it in a formal meeting. For the India and Africa guides, special conferences were held, the first at Stanford Uni- versity and the second at Northwestern University, bringing together key specialists including senior field workers for a critique of their respective contents. The authors of the initial drafts then reworked their manuscripts to take advantage of the resulting suggestions. The Committee reviewed various publication possibilities, taking account of the fact that other specialists might want to have a say on their contents, including scholars in countries outside the United States, especially in the areas with which they deal. It has been decided to issue the guides separately, and to distribute each one initially to insti- tutions and scholars known to have an interest in the region concerned. Comments are invited as a basis for revision of the guides, and in re- lation to the possible preparation of guides for other crucial areas such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Such comments should be sent to the Committee on International Anthropology in care of the Division of Anthropology and Psychology, National Academy of Sciences—National Research Council, 2101 Constitution Avenue, Washington 25, D.C. The Committee is warmly appreciative of the cooperation of Dr. Glen Finch of the Division of Anthropology and Psychology of the Academy—Research Council in advancing the field guide project. Charles Wagley Committee on International Anthropology Washington, D.C. August 15, 1961

CONTENTS Page I. Introduction 1 II. The Nation: Its Divisions 4 III. The Social Sciences in Brazil 12 IV. Scientific Institutions in Brazil 18 V. U.S. and European Interests in Brazil 26 VI. Preparations for the Field 31 VII. Professional Relationships 35 VIII. Relations with the General Public 40 IX. Physical Adjustment 44 X. Research Needs and Opportunities 50 Appendix A: Names and Addresses of Principal Brazilian Organizations 53 Appendix B: Principal Libraries 56 Appendix C: Principal Serial Publications in Social Sciences 57 Appendix D: Selected Background References 59

Next: Introduction »
Field Guide to Brazil Get This Book
×
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

This guide to field research in Brazil is one of a series being issued under the auspices of the Committee on International Anthropology, which was established in 1957 by the Division of Anthropology and Psychology of the National Academy of Sciences — National Research Council. The proposal that such field guides be prepared came from a conference of anthropologists held at Columbia University in December, 1956. The Committee has treated the project as an experimental one, recognizing that the audiences to be addressed are rather diverse, e.g., the research worker with a project and area in hand, graduate training seminars, the social scientist wanting to make professional contacts, and that the materials would have to be stated mostly in general terms.

The purpose of Field Guide to Brazil is to provide information which the research worker, entering an area for the first time, should have in order to plan his trip get clearances from governments, deal with interested scientific institutions and scholars, comport himself properly in relations with local leaders, and establish generally a favorable working status for himself prior to the point where he applies his professional techniques to the problem in hand.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!