Capitalismo dependente e a psicologia no Brasil: das alternativas à psicologia crítica

Abstract

The present paper presents a sketch of the history and development of Critical Psychology in Brazil. The text is divided into three parts. The first presents a brief characterization of Brazilian reality and the development of Brazilian Psychology; (b) the second part analyzes the development of Brazilian Critical Psychology in the last quarter of the 20th century, when proposals for “Alternative Psychology” and “Counter-Psychology” appeared, as well as their subsequent expansions – very differentiated proposals of “Critical Psychology” concerning the theory and the practice of Brazilian Psychology. Finally, in the last part of the text, questions and challenges for “Critical Psychology” are presented, tackling especially: (a) the effective contributions of Brazilian Critical Psychology to the processes of insurgency against the capitalist social order; (b) how certain concepts and theoretical proposals contribute for the denunciation and demystification of existing reality and, thus, enable emancipatory processes.