Becoming state

The process of bureaucratic subjection between civil service candidates in Brazil

Abstract

This article takes as its subject the recruitment process of state agents in Brazil, focusing on the learning acquired during the training for open examinations of the tax bureaucracy. It intends to show how, during the training for the examinations for positions of the bureaucratic elite, the candidates are submitted to a process of subjectivation of the state authority, here called bureaucratic subjection, that makes them inclined to certain cultural conceptions of civil service that guide the traditional bureaucratic practice in the public sector in Brazil. The methodology was based on participant observation in two preparatory courses in the state of Rio de Janeiro and carried out between October 2015 and December 2017, interviews with teachers and students of preparatory courses, and also interaction with these informants through online environments.