Abstract
In this article, Renato Ortiz remembers his first readings of Pierre Bourdieu's in the 1970's when he was studying in France. According to Ortiz the reception of Bourdieu's work in Brazil did not foreclose controversies, among other reasons, because it was identified with a sociology of order rather than a sociology of conflict. Ortiz collaborated with Florestan Fernandes to edit a collection of Bourdieu's articles in a series Coleção Grandes Cientistas Sociais published by Ática. After the 1980's the work of the French sociologist is widely disseminated among Brazilian social scientists both because of the modernization and autonomization of Brazilian scientific institutions and the articulation of a new conception of power, with the introduction of the democratic regime, which allowed for a distinction between power and politics.
Keywords Pierre Bourdieu; Controversial reception; Social Sciences in Brazil; Power and politics; Intellectual field