In this undeniably optimistic book, Jeffrey Needell unites 15 essays based on one assumption and addressing one question: now that Brazil has finally reached its promised potential, what does such an attainment mean? The collection is the collaborative effort of the Fundação Getúlio Vargas and the Center of Latin American Studies at the University of Florida, and the good fortune to be written before the Zika virus, the 2016 Summer Olympics, and Brazil's recent devastating defeat in the World Cup soccer, as well as the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, and the Operation Car Wash corruption scandals, not to mention the continuing economic downturn. Instead, the essays were written when Brazil's economy was growing, the Brazilian population was benefiting from a redistribution of income, and the country was counted among the up and coming powers of the world.
Leaving aside the usual stress on corruption scandals, ecological disasters and recurrent violence, the authors assert that Brazil has emerged on the world stage, where it now has a place among the more industrialized nations. This assertion sets a more positive tone, and it is helpful that most of the essayists are not overtly prescriptive: they do not tell the Brazilian government what to do. In general, most authors stress that well-planned government policies, the rise of a new and vocal middle class, diversification, decentralization, and the globalization of Brazil's economy and culture, as well as an increasing commercialization, have put Brazil in its due place.
According to the only essay written by a historian, Marshall Eakin, the post-World War II regime of Getúlio Vargas set the stage for the economic and social reforms that made Brazil's current place possible. The rise of technologically advanced industry arose alongside a new middle class. During the military regimes that followed Vargas, these policies were not abandoned. Later, Fernando Henrique Cardoso implemented well-aimed economic reforms that in turn made possible the social policies of Lula. Some essayists, though, stress the role of Brazil's newly vocal population rather than its government in the country's ascendency.
The Brazilian middle class has indeed grown, and it has become both more vocal and more Pentecostal. “Citizenship” has been a key word during the mass demonstrations, meaning that all citizens should have the right to be treated with dignity. The phenomenon of the rising middle class was not limited to the two largest cities, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, but it occurred also and increasingly in other areas, even in far northwestern Acre, where a new political ideology, “Forest Democracy,” was developed. The authors warn though that this new middle class is more precarious because it has lower savings and is less politically informed than its European counterparts.
Interestingly, the essayists suggest (but not explicitly) a link to the Protestant ethic defined by Max Weber: as more Brazilians become “Protestant” (more precisely, Evangelical Pentecostal), they adopt a “Protestant ethic” that helps them save more money and makes them less likely to spend it on luxury goods. Wealth is a sign of God's blessing, but it must not be flaunted publicly. Apart from the religious changes, however, this middle class could not have grown without changes in Brazil's economy.
Technology plays an increasingly important role in Brazil's agriculture, but the economic diversification it permits does not mean that commodities are unimportant. There are three environmental essays, one making a new claim: that the alcohol fuel-based economy in Brazil is a climate saver, based on the amount of carbon dioxide it emits compared to other fossil fuels. The new agriculture is more mechanized and has become more large-scale and more economical. However, there is little said regarding the ecosystems that have been destroyed to expand the growth of sugarcane. The displacement of small farmers and the Movement Without Land are hardly mentioned (apart from Acre); yet, the essays do give attention to the ecologically destructive impact of small-scale farming.
Beyond mechanized agriculture, the Brazilian government has also stimulated the use of nuclear technology, with impetus from the Brazilian navy, which had a nuclear submarine on its wish list. More importantly, it was the medical industry that drove nuclear development to address increasing uses for radiology. These authors measure Brazil's rise in the commercialization of the country not only economically, but also culturally.
The commercialization of culture is seen as a new step in Brazil's assertiveness. Big-city bossa nova was a worldwide phenomenon, now coming from Brazil is sertaneja (country) music from the Brazilian heartland. Brazilian religions (from healers to Pentecostals) are admired all over the world. Previously, it was mainly soccer stars who were known and exported, but now the world receives many other kinds of Brazilian stars, even cartoon characters. Brazilian culture has become more local, global, and capitalist.
Brazil's assertiveness on the international stage has always been remarkable; it is not a new phenomenon, although one might conclude that from this book. The spread of Brazilian culture is not new (witness bossa nova or capoeira), nor is its assertive and confident foreign policy, which made its mark even during the time of the military dictatorships (for example, in the refusal of commercial treaties, the nation's reaction to the US Monroe Doctrine, its participation in the Peace Conference in The Hague, its border politics, and the continuous demand for reciprocity). Consequently, one should not be surprised that the Brazilian government has supported Iran in its efforts to develop industrial nuclear technology, nor that Brazil is considered by countries other than the United States to be worthy of a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
Not all essays in this collection, however, subscribe to the notion promoted by followers of such publications as The Economist that the greater commercialization of Brazil means that the nation has “arrived.” Mariana Cavalcanti and other authors discussing urban changes are more cautious: new policies have changed the power distribution, but one still needs to understand their consequences. Indeed, the question may not be whether or not Brazil has finally reached the stage of an independent power that should be reckoned with, but rather how it is—and how it can be shown—that Brazil has always been assertive, independent, self-conscious, and intriguing. This collection is a welcome contribution in making that case.
