“history is the most important of the sciences, without history there is no objective reality”
Cesar Lattes
We are facing yet another attack on public universities in São Paulo and on the main research funding body currently in the country, Fapesp. This is article 14 of Bill 529/2020 of the Legislative Assembly of the State of São Paulo. The consequences for São Paulo universities and science would be devastating if the project is approved. The extent of the damage can be assessed in the article in Direto da Ciência[I]. I write before the result of the vote, but the proposal is a clear symptom of contempt for History and social neglect. It is an immediate adjustment to the spending balance, auspicious to the unwary eye, but which represents suicide by the State.
Public men, if they pay attention to History, should know that public universities and Fapesp constitute a state policy, which began to be engendered almost 90 years ago, with its founding milestone being the creation of USP in 1934, with the purpose of promoting the development. In the words of Sérgio Milliet, history reminds us that then we had the antithesis of what we see today: “From São Paulo... came 'an intellectual and scientific revolution' capable of changing the economic and social conceptions of Brazilians”. State policy expanded with the creation of Fapesp, the emergence of Unicamp and the organization of Unesp.
Fapesp was foreseen in the State Constitution in 1947. It is there in article 123, defended by deputy (as well as historian, philosopher and editor) Caio Prado Jr[II]:
“This measure seems to me to be one of the most far-reaching included in our Constitution because, without a doubt, if the initiative envisaged in it is well conducted, it will result in a complete transformation of the cultural, and I would even say economic and social, life of our State and, therefore, consequence, from Brazil.”
And it was well conducted, although it only started operating in 1962, the result of a new and intense mobilization of the scientific community. The results over these almost sixty years have been and continue to be essential. And they must continue to be and the mobilization now is for their maintenance. A brief overview of her history until the turn of this century can be seen in the review of a book about her[III]. The final sentence of the review is a warning about what surrounds us: “In other words, Fapesp has not been, in its history, an organism co-optable by power.” Power belongs to the government, the public good belongs to the state.
In addition to the words of Sérgio Milliet and Caio Prado Júnior, there are those of Zeferino Vaz, architect of Unicamp, founded in 1966, who recall the principles of transformation of this cultural, economic and social life in the philosopher deputy's speech:
“It is incomprehensible that there is a debate placing humanist and technical or scientific universities in antagonistic positions, because, in my opinion, this concept is unethical – it directly contradicts the concept of university. In my understanding, university means unity in the universality of human knowledge, that is, there is a common denominator, a single directional direction, in all human activities”. Techniques are subordinated to the well-being of man, not man subordinated to technique.”[IV].
Fortunately, many understand that the words in quotation marks above are not mere rhetoric, they are principles and values, which have resulted in enormous tangible transformations and which can be inserted into the spreadsheets of accountants in a hurry. I cite again the example already announced exhaustively, but which, unfortunately, seems to have not yet been entered into the spreadsheet of those who, using mere rhetoric, call other people's stories rhetoric. These are companies born and/or incubated at Unicamp, often originating from projects financed by Fapesp. There are more than 800 of them, employing more than 30 thousand people and earning R$7,9 billion a year.[IN].
And the most explicit example at this time is the mobilization of these institutions to combat the pandemic and its crises. Perhaps all you need to do is read, watch and listen to the media. Unicamp alone had its information published 10 times in the media in the month of July, more than 300 times a day.
It's not rhetoric, it's history and transformation. I hope this is remembered when choosing the objective reality we will have in the future.
This text does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Unicamp.
[II]https://bv.fapesp.br/linha-do-tempo/375/discurso-caio-prado-junior/
[III]http://www.comciencia.br/dossies-1-72/resenhas/fapesp.htm
