The emergence of the government’s open data public policy field in Brazil

Abstract

The paper makes a reading of the public policies of production and consumption of open data, by the theory of strategic action fields. In Brazil, the open government data field is characterized as emerging, since it is not yet stabilized. It can be seen that five groups work in cooperation dynamics and confrontations: State, Internal Governance Units, civil society organizations, universities and companies. The field dynamics are influenced by the possession of resources, or capital, in Bourdieu's terms. The capitals identified are: technical, social, symbolic, economic and informational. Based on qualitative analyzes of narratives of the subjects studied, the work presents an agenda for negotiation and action, involving the various participants in the field. It should be noted that these narratives are associated with the functions of transparency, which correspond to the concerns of open government brought mainly by international legitimating agents. From the academic point of view, this work has contributed to show a way to operationalize concepts brought about by theories that deal with strategic fields of action, especially with regard to the state of emergency of a field, as well as showing strengths and suggestions of improvement of these theories.