STATE-SOCIETY CYCLES AND POLITICAL PACTS IN A NATIONAL-DEPENDENT SOCIETY

The history of independent Brazil may be divided into three major state-society cycles, and, after 1930, five political pacts or class coalitions can be identified. These pacts were nationalist; only in the 1990s did the Brazilian elites surrender to neoliberal hegemony. Yet since early in the twent...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Latin American research review 2015-01, Vol.50 (2), p.3-3
Main Author: Bresser-Pereira, Luiz Carlos
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
19th century
21st century
Brazil
Bureaucracy
Capitalism
Coalitions
Democracy
Democratization
Economic Development
Elites
Employment
European cultural groups
Hegemony
Labor unions
Markets
Middle class
Nationalism
Neoliberalism
Oligarchy
Politics
Revolutions
Social Class
Social Justice
Society
Twenty First Century
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Summary:The history of independent Brazil may be divided into three major state-society cycles, and, after 1930, five political pacts or class coalitions can be identified. These pacts were nationalist; only in the 1990s did the Brazilian elites surrender to neoliberal hegemony. Yet since early in the twenty-first century they have been rediscovering the idea of the nation. The main claim of this essay is that Brazilian elites and Brazilian society are 'national-dependent,' that is, they are ambivalent and contradictory, requiring an oxymoron to define them. They are dependent because they often consider themselves 'Europeans' and the mass of the people as inferior. But Brazil is big enough, and there are many common interests around its domestic market, to make the Brazilian nation less ambivalent. Today the country is seeking a synthesis between the last two political cycles -- between social justice and economic development in the framework of democracy. Adapted from the source document.
ISSN:0023-8791
1542-4278
DOI:10.1353/lar.2015.0027