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Brazil: Neoliberalism versus Democracy
With the sixth largest economy in the world, Brazil has played a key international role for decades. It was one of the first “pink wave” administrations in Latin America. In 1994, it was responsible for shutting down the US-sponsored proposal for a Free Trade Area of the Americas. Notably, it is also one of the few large countries where social spending has risen and the distribution of income has improved over the last thirty years. As we saw during the 2014 World Cup protests, however, the country still remains highly unequal, with vast unmet social welfare needs and a precarious infrastructure.
In Neoliberalism Versus Democracy , Alfredo Saad-Filho and Lecio Morais review the complex paradox that is modern Brazil. Focusing on 1980 to the present, they analyze the tensions between the two dominant systemic political transitions from military rule to first democracy, then neoliberalism. A groundbreaking interpretation of this intricate relationship, Brazil examines how the contradictory dynamics of these transitions eventually became symbiotic as they unfolded and intertwined.
In Neoliberalism Versus Democracy , Alfredo Saad-Filho and Lecio Morais review the complex paradox that is modern Brazil. Focusing on 1980 to the present, they analyze the tensions between the two dominant systemic political transitions from military rule to first democracy, then neoliberalism. A groundbreaking interpretation of this intricate relationship, Brazil examines how the contradictory dynamics of these transitions eventually became symbiotic as they unfolded and intertwined.
216 pages, Paperback
Published January 15, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 11, 2021
Very good political-economy centred history of modern Brazil.
In a traditional Marxist style, the book contextualises the political events of the last 50 years in terms of the economic changes which have underwritten them, and how domestic and international economics interacted to create a specific set of historical conditions in which Brazil has developed.
Brazil falls into a very important historical intersection, which can reveal a lot about world politics in general. Brazil has been a Third World country, with all the pressures and degradations that entails; it has experienced military repression, modernising dictatorship, and liberalising capitalism; and it produced the world's last ever great mass Social Democratic party, the PT.
The fate of the PT - by no means yet decided - is one of the central themes of this book.
In a traditional Marxist style, the book contextualises the political events of the last 50 years in terms of the economic changes which have underwritten them, and how domestic and international economics interacted to create a specific set of historical conditions in which Brazil has developed.
Brazil falls into a very important historical intersection, which can reveal a lot about world politics in general. Brazil has been a Third World country, with all the pressures and degradations that entails; it has experienced military repression, modernising dictatorship, and liberalising capitalism; and it produced the world's last ever great mass Social Democratic party, the PT.
The fate of the PT - by no means yet decided - is one of the central themes of this book.
October 15, 2023
Well summarised account of the Brazilian economy. It’s concise and easy to follow which made the read worthwhile for me as I expand my knowledge base in this topic.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews