Academic literature on the topic 'Brazilian economic thought'

This chapter examines the evolution of the structuralist school of economic thought in the Brazilian context. The intellectual roots of structuralism are analyzed, as is the influence this set of ideas has had on economic policy formulation in Brazil. Prominent structuralists such as Celso Furtado and Raul Prebisch influenced the governments of Getúlio Vargas and Juscelino Kubitschek, while Furtado himself played a key role in establishing the national development bank (BNDES) and the Northeast development agency, SUDENE. Furtado “historicized” CEPAL structuralism and showed how losses in the

This chapter examines the development of Brazil’s inward-oriented industrialization strategy, commonly termed “import-substitution industrialization” (ISI). Originating in the 1930s under the corporatist administration of Getúlio Vargas, by the 1960s the strategy had succeeded in transforming the structure of the Brazilian economy, turning it into a major industrial powerhouse. Successful though the strategy initially was in promoting growth and structural change, it nevertheless suffered from inherent flaws, notably its heavy reliance on imported inputs and a failure to produce and export eff

The literature addressing market dynamics within neoliberalism typically assumes that reforming labor legislation has a direct impact on economic performance, the configuration of labor markets, and the strength of labor organizations. Within this literature one prevalent school of thought advocates increased flexibility of labor laws as the key to creating economic prosperity, enhancing labor productivity, increasing formal sector employment, and successfully fighting poverty and socioeconomic inequality. This chapter tests these assumptions by analyzing the case of Brazil between 1995 and 2010. The chapter’s findings suggest that legislation reforms seeking to flexibilize the Brazilian labor code do not significantly change the country’s labor market or economy. The author therefore proposes that transformations in international economic contexts as well as differing policy orientations of successive Brazilian federal governments may hold more explanatory power in accounting for labor market changes during this time period.

The introductory chapter highlights the significance of studying sustainable development, introducing it as a concept that significantly marks approaches to environmental protection, economic growth, and social well-being in the present day. It highlights the main arguments of the entire book, which is first that sustainable development should be thought of as an ongoing set of processes that involve embroilments, rather than a point of balanced stasis where a particular goal has been reached. Centrally, the central argument of this book is that with few exceptions, sustainable development ultimately serves to reproduce and reinforce existing inequalities and yields highly uneven social and environmental results. The socio-natures of Amazonian realities show how injections of capital and state influence produce disproportionately consolidates the power of capital and the state, even as they are contested by members of civil society. The chapter situates the research presented in the book in theoretical context, building upon notions of socio-nature from the field of geography, and drawing upon environmental governance literatures in anthropology and political science to lay the foundations for interrogating sustainable development in the Brazilian Amazon.

James David Wolfensohn is a surprising figure. A wildly successful investment banker, he nonetheless found time to take up the cello in middle life; he would cross the Atlantic on Concorde, buying two seats so that his cello could fly with him. A corporate insider, he nonetheless identified with the world’s least fortunate; he took an interest in international family planning, the environment, and AIDS, even as he was merging and restructuring the world’s leading companies. Appointed to lead a World Bank known chiefly for prescribing macro-economic austerity, Wolfensohn distanced the institution from both macro-economics and prescriptions. He spoke the language of poverty-fighting groups such as Oxfam, and demanded social justice; and after his first press conference, the World Bank’s chief spin doctor, who was concerned that the Bank not be seen as ‘soft’, remarked that Wolfensohn had not been ‘on message’. ‘He’s the President,’ another official said. ‘I think you’ll find that is the message.’ Since that exchange in 1995, Wolfensohn has reshaped the Bank, a formidable, sprawling institution with nearly ten thousand employees and projects in about one hundred countries. The emphasis on macro-economic structural adjustment, which had dominated the Bank’s programmes since the start of the 1980s, was phased out; questions of governance— the transparency of political institutions, the level of corruption, the quality of judicial or media or civil society oversight—came to preoccupy the Bank almost as much as price signals and sound budgeting. Before Wolfensohn’s arrival, the Bank’s apolitical charter was thought to put these governance issues at least partially off limits. But in a speech in 1966, Wolfensohn denounced ‘the cancer of corruption’, and a taboo that had lasted since the Bank’s creation in 1944 was abruptly shattered. Wolfensohn’s focus on poverty and social justice come through strongly in his contribution to this volume. Before his arrival at the Bank, the institution was often vilified for technocratic elitism: its officials’ idea of ‘field work’ was a meeting with a finance minister in a five-star hotel, according to the critics. But in this lecture we find Wolfensohn recounting the life of a poor mother in a Brazilian slum, and explaining that the worst feature of poverty is ‘voicelessness’.

Technological upgrading and innovation is necessary for long-term economic development. Nonetheless, creating the conditions that allow technological upgrading and innovation to occur is far from simple, especially for developing economies. While policymaking may create important macro- and meso-incentives for economic agents, it is at the micro-level that policy effectiveness can truly be verified. In this chapter we analyze the recent development of the Brazilian shipbuilding sector where an entire institutional setting was put in place to boost technological and industrial development. We investigate the policies and results by contrasting the macro-, the meso- and the micro-perspectives. Though policies put in place gave an initial boost to the sector, coordination uncertainties and critical bottlenecks at the micro-level generated high capability building costs that precipitated the subsequent failure of the shipbuilding industry to catch up and to upgrade sufficiently in order to really become internationally competitive.

The upper-middle-class Sasei and Yonseis [fourth-generation Japanese Brazilians] were born during the 1970s and 1980s and grew up in the city among “Brazilians.” In their childhood they all shared the experience of being bullied for their “(Japanese) face” and “slanted eyes” as a racial minority. They have struggled to find their positions under Brazil’s fluid racial formation, despite their educated parents’ individual “whitening.” Many have continued to resort to intermarriage with white Brazilians fueled by the desire to further “whiten” themselves. Becoming proud of Japan’s economic prosperity, some others, including racially mixed ones, have chosen to affirm their cultural identity collectively as the self-identified Nikkei [Japanese descendants]. Some began to learn the Japanese language in college and studied in Japan on fellowships. They socialize and date among themselves and eventually practice ethnic-class endogamy, even though their definition of Nikkeiness varies individually, except for their “face.”

<em>Abstract</em> .—At least 73% of Brazilian indigenous lands suffer one or more pressures or territorial threats, and 55% of federal conservation units do not have approved management plans. These protected areas encompass more than 40% of the Brazilian Amazonia. Official governmental management programs are not adequately supported and lack consistent monitoring and surveillance. Protected areas are under immense pressure from mining and commercial fishing and, more recently, from recreational fishing tourism. Even though recreational fishing in these areas is legally possible, it has been initiated without due consultation with the affected communities, disregarding the International Labor Organization’s Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (No. 169). Also, recreational fishing is being undertaken in a competitive model with no assessments of feasibility or assurance of socioenvironmental benefits. The community-based project of recreational fishing tourism implemented in the Marié River resulted from an cross-sectoral partnership supported by government and nongovernmental organizations based on the indigenous communities’ interest to develop an economic activity to ensure quality of life. The partnership also developed a joint monitoring and management program to protect the livelihoods and collective interests of indigenous peoples with emphasis on food security. The recreational fishing tourism in the Marié River became an opportunity for the indigenous communities to lead the governance, management, and conservation of their traditional territory.

<em>Abstract</em> .—At least 73% of Brazilian indigenous lands suffer one or more pressures or territorial threats, and 55% of federal conservation units do not have approved management plans. These protected areas encompass more than 40% of the Brazilian Amazonia. Official governmental management programs are not adequately supported and lack consistent monitoring and surveillance. Protected areas are under immense pressure from mining and commercial fishing and, more recently, from recreational fishing tourism. Even though recreational fishing in these areas is legally possible, it has been initiated without due consultation with the affected communities, disregarding the International Labor Organization’s Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (No. 169). Also, recreational fishing is being undertaken in a competitive model with no assessments of feasibility or assurance of socioenvironmental benefits. The community-based project of recreational fishing tourism implemented in the Marié River resulted from an cross-sectoral partnership supported by government and nongovernmental organizations based on the indigenous communities’ interest to develop an economic activity to ensure quality of life. The partnership also developed a joint monitoring and management program to protect the livelihoods and collective interests of indigenous peoples with emphasis on food security. The recreational fishing tourism in the Marié River became an opportunity for the indigenous communities to lead the governance, management, and conservation of their traditional territory.