CONSERVATISM OR CRITICAL THEORY?

THE COEXISTENCE OF RATIONALITIES IN THE FIELD OF INFORMATION SCIENCE

Abstract

Recognizing the influence of conservatism on the development of Brazilian Information Science, this article aims to investigate the influence of sociological theories on the body of journal publications produced by Research Productivity Fellows in Information Science funded by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). Data were collected from BrapciLabs, within Brapci, in conjunction with the BrapciPQ database, identifying 135 researchers, 10,516 scientific publications, and 220,033 references, which were analyzed based on the thinkers identified. Among the results, the study examines the incidence of these thinkers in the references of the works produced by the selected researchers, as well as the network of theorists and their citing authors. Finally, the findings reveal the coexistence of multiple rationalities, generating tensions, complementarities, and reconfigurations, thereby reflecting the complexity of a scientific field engaged in the construction of scientific knowledge.