Science in Brazil’s Foreign Policy Discourse (2019–2025)

Vollständiger Abstract

Worum geht es in dieser Arbeit?

This article presents the results of a study which purpose was to identify the structural and substantive features of the representation of science issues in Brazil’s foreign policy discourse for the period from 2019 to 2025. A constructivist approach served as the methodological basis. The study consisted of four stages. Firstly, a sample ( n = 488) of texts from Brazil’s foreign policy discourse was shaped. Secondly, a content analysis, which included selecting texts containing lexemes related to science from a pre-compiled set and determining quantitative indicators of the representation of science issues in the discourse under consideration, was conducted. Thirdly, content analysis was used to reveal priority areas of Brazil’s bilateral and multilateral interactions, during events related to which speeches were made mentioning lexemes from the designated set. Fourthly, narrative analysis was used to reveal narratives about science presented in Brazil’s foreign policy discourse. The study found that science issues were featured in nearly a third of the analyzed texts. Colombia as a direction for bilateral cooperation and BRICS as a format for multilateral interactions encompassing science had the highest discursive representation over the period. The content of several narratives is rooted, among other things, in the roles of country’s scientific development instrument and its reputation improvement instrument that science diplomacy plays in Brazil’s foreign policy.