ABSTRACT
This article analyzes the political values embedded in the applied sociology developed by the rural sociologists T. Lynn Smith and José Arthur Rios in the 1940s and 1950s. Their proposals for social intervention, intended to modernize the Brazilian social structure and to promote civic culture among the rural poor, were conceived at a time when the theme of development emerged on the global scene. It is argued that Smith and Rios’ view followed the steps of an authoritarian tradition of knowledge epitomized by the work of local intellectuals such as Oliveira Vianna, who had stressed the amorphous character of the Brazilian society. Operating within this tradition, Smith and Rios’ sociology sometimes led to conclusions, which were in conflict with their goal of actualizing the Brazilian political democracy. By examining both sociologist's key texts as well as sources related to their trajectories, this article seeks to put their ideas in context and to analyze its content and relations with the Brazilian Social Thought.
Keywords:
The History of the social sciences; Brazilian social thought; Democracy; Community development; T. Lynn Smith; José Arthur Rios