Corporatism, fractionalization and state interventionism: the development of communication studies in Brazil

This article summarizes the development of education and research in Communication Studies in Brazil. It is argued that different factors contributed to the development of the particular features that Brazilian Communication Studies present nowadays. They include: the late development of Brazilian universities, in comparison to the western societies, but also to other Latin American countries; the relatively early development of Communication programs, beginning from the late 1940s, following the example of the United States; state interventionism in the universities’ curricula, and the influence exerted by other non-academic social actors, such as journalists’ unions. As the result of the influence of these factors, Communication Studies organized according to two entirely different logics: undergraduate studies focus on specialized professional fields (such as Journalism, Advertising, Public Relations, Cinema) and adopt a practical approach with respect to them; otherwise, graduate studies employ a much more general and academic approach focusing on Communication as a whole. The article also discusses the challenges faced by Communication Studies at present, resulting both from the changes in the media landscape and a hostile political scenario, associated with the rise of Jair Bolsonaro, an ultra-rightist politician who openly disdains science (and human sciences in particular).