"The rats' ball": the sociotechnical construction of the bubonic plague in Rio de janeiro (1897-1906)

• Grant number: 13/02255-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: June 01, 2013
• End date: July 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of Science
• Principal Investigator: Márcia Regina Barros da Silva
• Grantee: Matheus Alves Duarte da Silva
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 14/04657-7 - Fleas, mice, ships and plague victims international controversy over bubonic plague and its influence in Brazil (1894-1904), BE.EP.MS

Abstract

This master´s project has, as its theme, the analysis of the consolidation process, by brazilian physicians and scientists, of two "scientific facts" related to the bubonic plague: the transmissibility of the disease by the rat flea and the need to eliminate these animals as the main sanitary measure to control the disease in Brazil. The plague became a reality in 1899, when it arrived in Santos and later in Rio de Janeiro, the country capital city. The chronological focus of this research is situated between the years of 1897, when began the scientific publications about the bubonic plague in the country, and 1904, moment when it was decided to adopt the policy of hunting rats in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The research is theoretically grounded in the idea that a "scientific fact" does not impose itself through its objectivity, but rather, through a dynamic process of dispute, in which scientists seek to convince each other using strategies and arguments that are not always objective and scientific. In this process of consolidation, the newspapers, lay and specialized, occupy a privileged place, constituting a stage of debate between advocates of different scientific theories. In this project, the sources used will be the Jornal do Commercio, Rio de Janeiro´s main newspaper at that time, and the Brazil Médico, one of the leading medical journals in Brasil. Based on them, it will be possible to observe the existence of many conflicting "scientific facts" related to the transmissibility of the bubonic plague and to the health policy used to combat this disease, as well as to understand the conflicting process that led to the adoption of only one of these facts and of only one of these policies.

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

SILVA, Matheus Alves Duarte da. The ratsball: the socio-technical construction of bubonic plague in Rio de Janeiros (1897-1906). 2015. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD) São Paulo.