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Chapter Reference: Neoliberalism
Brazil's military rule 1964-1985 is the logical place to begin thinking about contemporary Brazil and its current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, nick-named (and generally known to Brazilians as) Lula. Lula rose to national prominence in the late 1970s as a labor leader able to challenge the country's military rulers. When those rulers withdrew their authoritarian control in the 1980s, Lula became the perennial presidential candidate of the Labor Party (the Partido dos Trabalhadores, or PT), but the prevailing neoliberalism of the 1990s gave the PT a stiff headwind. Finally, in 2002, Lula won a decisive electoral victory. But the high hopes of the new president's supporters seemed destined to collide with the narrow economic confines within which Lula was forced to maneuver. In addition, the PT itself, in power nationally for the first time, underwent new strains and experienced considerable internal divisions. There was an initial flight of capital, but by 2005 it had begun to return. This is a story still in progress.
Questions for Analysis and Further Reflection:
- Lula's rise to prominence in the 1970s was closely connected to his role as a labor leader and the history of labor in the region of São Paulo. How was the PT able to extend its support beyond organized labor?
- Lula's presidential victory in 2002 suggested that the neoliberal wave of the 1990s is declining in Brazil. What economic policies established by Lula's neoliberal predecessors have restricted the PT's range of action?
- Presidents are symbolic figures as much as they are political actors. Considered in the context of Brazilian history since the 1970s, what does the election of Lula signify?
Bibliography: (Titles with ** are good starting places.)
Baiocchi, Gainpaolo, ed. Radicals in Power: The Workers' Party (PT) and Experiments in
Urban Democracy in Brazil. London, New York: Zed Books, 2003.
Baiocchi provides a look at PT innovations in local government.
Branford, Sue, and Bernardo Kucinski. Brazil: Carnival of the Oppressed. Lula and the
Brazilian Workers' Party. London: Latin American Bureau, 1995.
Branford and Kucinski present a concise overview of the PT, with profiles of key party players.
Branford, Sue, and Bernardo Kucinski, with Hilary Wainwright. Politics Transformed: Lula
and the Workers' Party of Brazil. London, New York: Latin American Bureau, New
Press, 2003.
This recent book provides a journalistic treatment of today's PT.
** Keck, Margaret E. The Workers Party and Democratization in Brazil. New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1992.
Keck's study is a good overview of the foundation and early trajectory of the PT.
Nylen, William R. Participatory Democracy Versus Elitist Democracy: Lessons from Brazil
New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
Like Baiocchi, Nylen explores the PT at the local-government level.
** Sader, Emir, and Ken Silverstein. Without Fear of Being Happy: Lula, the Workers Party
and Brazil. London: Verso, 1991.
Sader and Silverstein provide a concise history of the PT, from its beginnings up to the early 1990s. An interview with Lula is also included.
** Medea Benjamin, Maisa Mendonça, and Benedita da Silva. Benedita da Silva: An Afro-
Brazilian Woman's Story of Politics and Love. Oakland, CA: The Institute for Food
and Development Policy, 1997.
Benedita, Benjamin, and Mendonça offer an English-language account of one of the PT's most compelling political personalities.
Wright, Angus, and Wendy Wolford. To Inherit the Earth: The Landless Movement and the
Struggle for a New Brazil. Oakland, CA: Food First Books, 2003.
Other Resources:
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