HENRI PIÉRON, ROBERTO MANGE AND THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOTECHNICS IN BRAZIL: REPRESENTATIONS IN CONTEST

Abstract

This article discusses the genesis of psychotechnics in the 1920s and 1940s, analyzing, in a comparative way, three psychotechnics courses taught in São Paulo, Brazil: by Roberto Mange, at the Liceu de Artes e Ofícios, in 1926, and at the Escola Livre de Sociologia e Política de São Paulo, in 1934; and by Henri Piéron, at the Escola Normal de São Paulo, in 1926. The analysis presented here questions the causal association between psychotechnics and Taylorism, which places the name of Mange at the same time as a precursor and promoter of Taylor's ideas in Brazil. Furthermore, it shows that, although these courses respond to local projects aimed at industry and education, they also express the materialization of a global project, built on statistical tools, standardized equipment and international circulation of texts and intellectuals, with implications for historiography of psychology in the period.

Keywords:
Henri Piéron; Roberto Mange; psychotechnics; historiography