Engineers of the Grande Mar Redondo: engineering and nature in the bays of Paranaguá and Antonina (1871-1879)

ABSTRACT The construction of a railroad between the coast and the capital of Paraná generated conflicts among Brazilian engineers, as the local political elites claimed the port station and the railroad layout. Engineers are considered to be experts who, according to Bruno Latour (2004), handled technical processes transitioning between science and politics. The article analyzes the performance of these engineers in the spatial configuration of the coast of Paraná, seeking to understand the engineering projects in the set of relations between society and nature. The research was developed from the analysis of the technical reports of the engineers and it is concluded that, based on a positivist science, the engineers legitimized the desires of the political groups that idealized the modernization and progress of the province.