Voices from the south: the construction of Brazilian community social psychology

This paper focuses on community psychology practices developed in Brazil in the last four decades. These practices are situated in different historical periods in order to identify the paradigms and the theoretical and methodological aspects that have guided them. The paper outlines a debate between ‘old’ and ‘new’ community psychological practices and their corresponding philosophical foundations with the objective of establishing the elements that demarcate the Latin American experience in community social psychology. It is argued that there are philosophical and political differences between community social psychology and other psychological practices. The paper also discusses the possibilities and dangers associated with the work of community social psychology as it responds to demands of both civil society and neo-liberal governments.