HOPE OLSON AND KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION IN BRAZIL

INTELLECTUAL RECEPTION, THEORETICAL CIRCULATION, AND EPISTEMOLOGICAL APPROPRIATION

Abstract

Recent studies within the field of Knowledge Organization, informed by critical theories, reveal a persistent concern with overcoming the prescriptive nature of knowledge organization systems and the assumption of their scientific and technical neutrality, without conceiving them as social, historical, and political constructions. The work of Hope Olson stands out in this context due to its capacity to challenge the epistemological foundations of Knowledge Organization. In this sense, this study investigates the reception of this scholar’s work in Brazilian scientific production in Knowledge Organization, covering the period from 2002 to 2026. The research is qualitative-quantitative, explanatory, and bibliographic in nature, combining a descriptive analysis of scientific production with the use of bibliometric indicators and content analysis, applied to a corpus of 127 works identified in journals and in the proceedings of ENANCIB and ISKO-Brazil. The results show a growing process of appropriation of Olson’s work, with a peak in 2017, and reveal four predominant thematic axes of reception: epistemological, ethical, sociocultural, and political. It is concluded that, while configuring a distinctive Brazilian critical reception, this reception is predominantly conceptual, operates partly as an appeal to authority, and occurs, to a significant extent, indirectly, mediated by other authors.