DESAFIOS DA ANTROPOLOGIA NAS DOBRAS DO TEMPO CONVERSA COM OTÁVIO VELHO

Otávio Velho is Professor Emeritus at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. His professional career is closely linked to the Graduate Program in Social Anthropology at the National Museum, at the same university. He was the first person to defend, in 1970, a master's thesis in the Program and he served as a professor in it between 1974 and 2005. publications in books and scientific journals. He worked with the themes of the peasantry and expansion fronts in the context of what he called authoritarian capitalism, religion in the framework of discussions on modernity and globalization, and epistemology. More recently, he has been active in science policy associations and debates. It was, between 2007 and 2011, vice-president of the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science (SBPC). Since 2014, he is a full member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC) and Honorary President of the SBPC.At the invitation of Mana, on the eve of his 80th birthday, completed in 2021, five people interviewed Otávio. Amir Geiger, Emerson Giumbelli, Eloísa Martín, Regina Novaes and Ypuan Garcia were, at different times, students in courses that Otávio led at the National Museum. This is also a group of former advisees, former students, friends and fellow activists. Held on September 27, 2021, the interview published below served as a (re)encounter between people who had their education marked by Otávio's work. It represents a tribute to his work and trajectory, as long-lasting as they are impactful.The dynamic, as initially conceived, consisted of formulating questions in writing for Otávio, so that he already knew them at the time of the interview. However, in an authentic “body dribble”, he ultimately preferred not to receive them in advance, leaving it to listen to them and respond impromptu in the virtual synchronous meeting. Therefore, as the readers will notice, some questions (those formulated in advance) have a more formal, less improvised tone or elaboration, sometimes contrasting with the agile, incisive and generous colloquiality of Otávio's answers. Exploring different aspects of his relationship with anthropology, the interview shows how thought-provoking and timely his views and positions continue to be.