Books & ideas

Facing Bolsonaro's Attack on Science and Social Protection in the Pandemic

Émilie Frenkiel & Alfredo Ramos — 2020-07-09T07:00:00Z

Bolsonaro's policy focuses on the destruction of social protection, science and political pluralismo. A coalition of actors, comprising national and local leaders, has emerged to limit its disastrous results in the context of the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Beyond Backlash

Priscila Delgado de Carvalho — 2020-05-21T07:00:00Z

Gender not only reached an unprecedented level of exposure in public debates but has become a structuring element of contemporary conservative discourses. This text discusses how gender can be incorporated into assessments of the current crisis of democracies

Whither Democracy in Brazil?

Émilie Frenkiel — 2016-11-17T08:00:00Z

The president of the Brazilian Political Science Association, an expert of democratic innovations, discusses how Brazilian political scientists are taking stock of the Workers Party president's curtailed electoral mandate in favor of Michel Temer and how it impacts their research orientation.

Unfinished Modernity

Cristelle Terroni — 2016-04-07T07:00:00Z

Scattered all over the world are abandoned places, promises of modernity that history, economics or politics have shattered. The Suspended Spaces collective has undertaken to project the gaze of contemporary artists onto these ghostly spaces.

Web Activism in São Paulo: New Political Practices

Rita de Cássia Alves Oliveira & Rosemary Segurado — 2014-07-14T07:00:00Z

In September 2011, Ocupa Sampa, a Brasilian activist movement started to occupy Sao Paulo's center, adopting the same strategy as 15M in Spain or Occupy Wall Street in New York. Analyzing the use of web activism in the organization of this movement, this essay focuses on the role of Ocupa Sampa as a possible precursor to the June Days, which started two years later.

A (Brazilian) Tale of Two Dimes

Paulo Edgar da Rocha Resende & Geraldo Adriano Godoy de Campos — 2014-07-07T07:00:00Z

The current strikes and mass protests in Brazil are part of a global wave of struggles against traditional political institutions and the notion of leadership. This essay highlights the absence of any clear political project answering the demands coming from the streets.

Brazil's “Winter of Discontent”

Edesio Fernandes — 2014-06-23T07:30:00Z

Recent social movements in Brazil, characterized by diffuse claims and a diversity of actors, should not be solely interpreted as reactions to the overwhelming cost of organizing the 2014 World Cup. This article emphasizes the elitist nature and the inefficiency of recent urban policy.

Democracy, Urban Issues and Corruption in Contemporary Brazil

Alfredo Ramos — 2014-06-19T07:14:48Z

The June protests which shook Brazil in 2013 stunned the world. This dossier, published by Books&Ideas, discusses the main issues at the core of these protests, analyzing them in the light of previous mobilizations and explaining why they are essential to the understanding of contemporary Brazil.

Brazil's Forgotten Political Reforms

Gianpaolo Baiocchi & Ana Claudia Teixeira — 2014-06-19T07:00:00Z

In June 2013, Brazil faced an unprecedented wave of protests. First denouncing the rising fare of public transportation, the June protests gained momentum, showing that Brazilians craved for no less than a complete political reform. Assessing the legacy of this social movement, this essay points to the limits of citizen participation as it was implemented in Brazil in the preceding decades.

National Conferences in Brazil

Leonardo Avritzer — 2012-09-28T09:21:00Z

During Lula's presidential mandates, national conferences dedicated to women issues, human rights or social assistance galvanized thousands of Brazilians. This article details who they were, which issues mobilized them most and how influential this new pattern of participation has been.