OVERVIEW

The course examines the history of Republican Brazil from 1889 to the present, with particular attention to authoritarianism, state-building and citizenship, the experience of Getúlio Vargas, the civil-military dictatorship and practices of resistance. Written, visual and testimonial sources will support the analysis of the country’s political, social and cultural transformations.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to provide students with an in-depth understanding of the political-institutional, social and cultural context of Republican Brazil.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course provides an in-depth understanding of Brazilian history from the proclamation of the Republic to the present, relating political and institutional transformations to the country’s social, economic and cultural changes.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• reconstruct the main phases of Brazilian Republican history and situate them within their Latin American and international contexts;
• distinguish the defining features of the First Republic, the Vargas era, the 1945–1964 Republic, the civil-military dictatorship and the New Republic;
• analyse the relationships among authoritarianism, modernisation, economic development, labour organisation and the construction of citizenship;
• assess the political and symbolic role of Getúlio Vargas and identify the main historiographical interpretations of Varguismo;
• understand the origins, institutional functioning and civilian and military foundations of the regime established in 1964;
• identify the plurality of forms of opposition and resistance, including political movements, trade unions, student organisations, armed struggle, cultural production, religious communities, women’s movements, Black movements and Indigenous mobilisation;
• analyse written, visual, journalistic, testimonial and institutional sources critically;
• discuss historiographical interpretations using appropriate disciplinary vocabulary and develop an independent research pathway.

PREREQUISITES

There are no specific prerequisites. A basic knowledge of contemporary history and Latin American history may facilitate the study of the topics covered. Knowledge of Portuguese is useful for reading some primary sources, although it is not compulsory.

TEACHING METHODS

The course combines lectures, seminar activities and source-analysis workshops.

Lectures will provide the historical framework and introduce the main historiographical approaches. Seminars will be devoted to the discussion of scholarly readings, documents and case studies. Workshops will guide students in the analysis of constitutions, political speeches, periodical publications, photographs, posters, audiovisual materials, testimonies, political-police records and truth commission reports.

Students attending classes may be asked to give a short individual or group presentation devoted to a primary source, a historiographical question or a leading figure in Brazilian Republican history.

Attendance is recommended. Teaching materials and primary sources will be made available on AulaWeb.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Authoritarianism, citizenship and resistance in Republican Brazil

The course reconstructs the history of Republican Brazil through an examination of the forms assumed by the state, processes of inclusion in and exclusion from citizenship, and the responses developed by different sectors of Brazilian society.

1. The birth of the Republic

The crisis of the Empire, the abolition of slavery and the proclamation of the Republic in 1889. The Constitution of 1891, federalism, the role of the Armed Forces and the construction of the new political order.

2. The First Republic, 1889–1930

The predominance of regional oligarchies, coronelismo, the politics of the governors and the limitations of political representation. Urban modernisation, immigration, labour, social conflict and the construction of national identity. Canudos, Contestado, urban revolts, the labour movement and tenentismo.

3. The crisis of the oligarchic order and the Revolution of 1930

The economic and social transformations of the 1920s, the crisis of the political system and the rise of Getúlio Vargas. State centralisation, economic intervention and the redefinition of relations between the federal government and regional powers.

4. Vargas between revolution, constitutionalism and dictatorship

The Provisional Government, the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932, the Constitution of 1934, Integralism and Communism. The construction of the internal enemy and the 1937 coup.

5. The Estado Novo, 1937–1945

Authoritarianism, corporatism and nationalism. Social legislation, the organisation of labour, industrialisation and state modernisation. Propaganda, censorship, political culture and the construction of Vargas’s public image. Brazil during the Second World War and the crisis of the regime.

6. The democratic Republic, 1945–1964

The Constitution of 1946, the new party system and Vargas’s return to power. Trabalhismo, economic nationalism, Petrobras and social conflict. Vargas’s suicide and the construction of his political memory. The Kubitschek government, Brasília, developmentalism and the contradictions of modernisation.

7. Political crisis and the 1964 coup

The governments of Jânio Quadros and João Goulart, the Basic Reforms, social mobilisation and political radicalisation. The role of the Armed Forces, economic elites, the media, the Catholic Church and the United States. The historiographical debate surrounding the civilian and military character of the coup and the dictatorship.

8. The institutionalisation of the civil-military dictatorship

The Institutional Acts, the suspension of political rights and the authoritarian reorganisation of the state. The two-party system, the Constitution of 1967 and Institutional Act No. 5. The National Security Doctrine, censorship, political policing, torture, political killings and enforced disappearances.

9. Authoritarian modernisation and social transformation

The so-called economic miracle, industrial expansion, major infrastructure projects, the occupation of the Amazon and growing inequality. Regime propaganda, nationalism, consumer society and the construction of consent. Business interests, technocracy and civilian participation in the dictatorship.

10. Forms of resistance

Parliamentary opposition, the student movement, trade unions, urban guerrilla organisations and the Araguaia Guerrilla. Music, cinema, theatre, the alternative press and cultural practices of resistance. The role of women, prisoners’ and disappeared persons’ relatives, the Catholic Church, Black and Indigenous movements, political exiles and international human-rights networks.

11. Political opening and democratic transition

Political liberalisation, the Amnesty Law, the new trade-union movement and the establishment of the Workers’ Party. The Diretas Já campaign, the end of the regime and the Constitution of 1988. The limitations of the negotiated transition and the persistence of authoritarian structures.

12. Memories of the dictatorship and democracy in contemporary Brazil

Reparation policies, the archives of repression and the National Truth Commission. Public conflicts surrounding the 1964 coup, the dictatorship and resistance. Inequality, state violence, the militarisation of public security and the crisis of democracy during the New Republic.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Specific information concerning the reading list and the texts assigned to students attending and not attending classes will be published on AulaWeb and provided before the beginning of the course.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Second semester. The starting date will be entered in accordance with the teaching calendar of the degree programme.

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Assessment consists of an oral examination.

For students attending classes, the final assessment will also take account of any seminar presentation completed during the course. The presentation will focus on the analysis of a primary source or on a historical and historiographical question agreed with the lecturer.

Students not attending classes will take an oral examination covering the entire syllabus and the specific reading list assigned to them.

During the examination, students may be asked to analyse and contextualise one of the primary sources included in the reading list or teaching materials.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The oral examination will assess knowledge of the principal phases of Brazilian Republican history and the ability to situate events, actors and transformations within their political, social and cultural contexts.

Assessment will consider:

• knowledge of the main chronologies and historical content;
• the ability to relate authoritarianism, modernisation, citizenship and social conflict;
• understanding of the specific characteristics of Varguismo and the civil-military dictatorship;
• the ability to distinguish different forms of opposition and resistance;
• critical use of primary sources and historiographical literature;
• appropriate disciplinary vocabulary, clarity of presentation and coherence of argument.

A basic but accurate knowledge of the course content and the ability to situate events and processes in time and space are required to pass the examination. Higher marks will be awarded for independent judgement, comparative ability, critical use of sources and a sound command of historiographical debates.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students with specific learning difficulties

Students who have formally submitted certification relating to disability, specific learning difficulties or other special educational needs are invited to contact both Professor Elisabetta Colagrossi, and the lecturer at the beginning of the academic year.

Appropriate teaching and examination arrangements will be agreed which, while respecting the course learning aims, take account of individual learning needs and provide suitable compensatory tools.

Students may contact the lecturer by e-mail for further information and clarification concerning the syllabus.