Social Justice, Post-Colonialism, and Civil Society
in Northeastern Brazil
LACB 3000 (3 credits / 45 class hours)
SIT Study Abroad Program:
Brazil: Social Innovation and Community Development
PLEASE NOTE: Because courses develop and change over time to take advantage of
unique learning opportunities, actual course content varies from semester to semester.
Course Description
This course provides an in-depth look at the process of political and social
transformation at the grass-roots level in Northeastern Brazil, as well as the persistent
and often conflictive interaction of new political actors in the country that has become a
living “social laboratory”. The course provides the broad and contextualized historical,
political and social background necessary to understand the emancipation struggles of
indigenous, African, and Afro-descendants. It addresses long-standing issues of social
exclusion and marginalization, focusing in particular on indigenous populations, women,
children, and the landless and these groups’ struggle for social justice. It also provides
the opportunity to study civil society initiatives in Fortaleza, such as the Brazilian
landless movement and the black women´s movement in Salvador. The course also
seeks to understand the influence and impact of social emancipation struggles and civil
society organizations in the postcolonial process of transition from authoritarianism to
present-day democracy. Students will experience and explore how Brazil’s landless and
marginalized groups pursue their own path toward social justice and development as
Latin America´s weak political institutionalization is increasingly channeling citizens´
demands through non-party organizations. Low political institutionalization and
conflicting interests often go along with ad hoc forms of conflict resolution and the
redress of social justice issues. The course will offer students the opportunity to engage
in observation, discussion and critical reflection, examining at the local level critical
global issues affecting the economy, social conditions and health of Brazil’s landless and
marginalized peoples. The course considers how religious communities of the African
Matrix, indigenous communities, quilombo communities, NGOs and other groups
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historically and actually offer ways to rethink human relations, within a social justice
framework, emphasizing solidarity, fraternity, re-centering knowledge and generating
new ideas. These themes are explored from a post-colonial, decolonization and critical
grounding.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
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Analyze country-specific knowledge regarding local efforts to achieve social
justice and development;
Engage in culturally appropriate discussions on social justice and development
issues;
Identify, describe, analyze and assess the ways in which scholars address and
frame questions of social justice and development;
Identify, describe and analyze social, political and cultural forces shaping
contemporary Brazilian democracy;
Identify and use scholarly approaches to social justice and inequality;
Examine and explain the pressures exerted by organizations of civil society for
greater inclusion, recognition and protection under the law;
Articulate how the transition from dictatorship to democratic institutions has
forged widespread demands for social justice, human rights and social equity;
Cite the main theoretical contributions of postcolonial theorists and apply some
of their concepts to current research;
Course Objectives
The objectives for this course are to:
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Provide students with historical background and knowledge about social,
economic, political and cultural issues which have forged the present day reality
of Brazil in general, and Northeast Brazil in particular.
Develop a basic conceptual and practical understanding of contemporary social
justice and development issues in Brazil.
Gain an understanding of the construction of global citizenship and democracy.
Explore the role and contribution of all major ethnic groups to the creation of
contemporary Brazilian culture and democratic institutions.
Consider the issue of social justice in-depth, using the Brazilian situation as a
case study.
Provide scholarly tools to process and critically analyze historical information,
different schools of thought, and varied interpretations about social justice and
governance in Brazil.
Language of Instruction
English and Portuguese
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Course Schedule
*Please be aware that lectures and activities may vary to take advantage of any emerging
events, to accommodate changes in our lecturers’ availability, and to respect any changes
that would affect student safety. Students will be notified if this occurs.
Module 1: The Historical Foundations of Social Injustice and
Underdevelopment in Northeastern Brazil
Taught at sites in the state of Ceará, this introductory module works to develop a
common scholarly frame of reference for students to more fully explore issues of race
and class divisions, unequal development, social exclusions, gender inequality, and
unequal resource distribution in Northeast Brazil.
Integrating readings, lectures and experiential participation in local organizations and
communities, this module focuses on causes and effects of key aspects of social
exclusion and social injustice. The module addresses the issues of who is excluded, what
are the forms of the exclusion, and the links between exclusion and other development
issues such as poverty and inequality.
Required Readings
Baer, W. (2008). The Brazilian economy: Growth and development (6th ed.); Lynne Rienner
Publishers. Boulder, Colorado.
Fausto, B. (2008). A concise history of Brazil. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Sepúlveda Dos Santos, M. (2008). The repressed memory of Brazilian slavery.
International Journal of Cultural Studies, 11(2), 157-175.
Skidmore, T. E. (1988). The politics of military rule in Brazil, 1964-85. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Other Readings
Skidmore, T. E. (1967). Politics in Brazil, 1930-1964: An experiment in democracy. New
York: Oxford University Press.
Skidmore, T. E. (2007). Politics in Brazil, 1930-1964: An experiment in democracy (40th
Anniversary Edition). New York: Oxford University Press.
Skidmore, T. E. (1999). Brazil: Five centuries of change (Latin American histories; Latin
American histories). New York: Oxford University Press.
Furtado, C. (1965). The economic growth of Brazil: A survey from colonial to modern times
(2nd edition.).
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Module 2: The Colonial Legacy: Individual & Structural Violence in
Northeastern Brazil
Building on considerations related to the experience of slavery and the colonial history
of Brazil, this module highlights the enduring structures of individual and structural
violence that continue to characterize social, political economic and cultural relations.
Students will explore how these structures of violence mold and shape the life
experience of marginalized groups in Brazil with a focus on Afro-descendant and
Indigenous populations and women. The module is also designed to engage students in a
reflective analysis of how these structures of violence are globalized, normalized and
integrated into our daily life becoming determinant factors in the nature and character
of our personal relations. Finally, the modules seeks to reveal through discussion, debate
and analysis how these violent structures and relations power of gender, race, and
homophobia and other forms of domination are at the center of global social injustice
today.
Required Readings
Galtung, J, Cultural Violence. Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 27, No. 03, 1990, pp. 291305.
Andrew Dilts (2012). Revisiting Johan Galtung's Concept of Structural Violence, New
Political Science, 34:2, 191-194
Cocks, J. (2012) The Violence of Structures and the Violence of Foundings, New Political
Science, 34:2, 221-227.
Winter, Y. (2012). Violence and Visibility. New Political Science, 34(2), 195-202.
Gil, D. G. (1998). Confronting injustice and oppression: Concepts and strategies for social
workers (Social work knowledge; Social work knowledge). New York: Columbia
University Press.
Gilman, R. (1997). Structural Violence: Can we find genuine peace in a world with
inequitable distribution of wealth among nations?” The Foundations of Peace, Autumn
1983, 1997 by Contex Institute, 8.
Sidney M. Greenfield (2014), The English Enlightenment and “The Economy”: How Some
Men with a Vision Created the Modern World and Its Problems, in Donald C. Wood
(ed.) Production, Consumption, Business and the Economy: Structural Ideals and Moral Realities
(Research in Economic Anthropology, Volume 34) Emerald Group Publishing Limited,
pp.1 – 28.
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Ciconello, Alexandre. (2012) Calling Out the Persistence of Racism. New Political Science,
Volume 34, Number 2.
Thompson, Audrey (1999) Colortalk: Whiteness and Off White, Educational Studies: A
Journal of the American Educational Studies Association, 30:2, 141-160
Andreotti, Vanessa (2012). Education, Knowledge and the Righting of Wrongs, University of
Oulu, Finland. University of Oulu, Finland Issue 1 pp. 19-31
Domingos, Manuel, “The Powerful in the Outback of the Brazilian Northeast”, Latin
American Perspectives, Volume 31, Number2, Issue 135, March 2004.
Schwartzman, Simon, “Globalization, poverty, and social inequity in Brazil”, Instituto de
Estudos do Trabalho e Sociedade (IETS), Rio de Janeiro, February, 2003.
The World Bank (March 2010) Moving Out of Poverty in Northeast Brazil.
The World Bank Brazil (November 2010) “Brazil’s Missing Middle”, Quarterly Knowledge
Report.
De AlmeidaL, Agamenon T. “Understanding World Capitalism Today.”
Other Readings
Muniz de Albuquerque Junior, Durval, “Weaving Tradition: The Invention of the
Brazilian Northeast,” Latin American Perspectives, Volume 31, Number 2, Issue 135,
March 2004.
Bacelar de Araujo, Tânia, “Northeast, Northeasts: What Northeast?”, Latin American
Perspectives, Volume 31, Number 2, Issue 135, March 2004.
Garmany, Jeff, “Situating Fortaleza: Urban space and uneven development in
northeastern Brazil”, Elsevier journal, August 2011.
Gondim, Linda, “Creating the Image of Modern Fortaleza: Social Inequalities, Political
Changes, and the Impact of Urban Design”. Latin American Perspectives, Volume 31,
Number 2, Issue 135, March 2004.
Almeida Teles, Maria A ´ Melia De, “Women’s Human Rights in Brazil”, Peace Review: A
Journal of Social Justice, 18:485–490, 2006.
Bandyopadhyay, Ranjan and Nascimento, Karina “Where fantasy becomes reality: How
Tourism Forces made Brazil a Sexual Playground” Journal of Sustainable Tourism. Vol. 18,
No. 8, November 2010, 933–949.
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Klein, Charles, “The ghetto is over, darling’: Emerging Gay Communities and Gender
and Sexual politics in Contemporary Brazil”, Culture, Health & Sexuality, 1999, VOL. 1,
NO. 3, 239-260.
Santos, Martha “On the importance of being honorable: Masculinity, Survival, and
Conflict in the backlands of Northeast Brazil, Ceará, 1840s -1890”, The Americas ,
Berkeley, July 2007, Volume 64, Iss.1, pg35.
Brown, Lisa, “Pleasuring body parts: women and soap operas in Brazil”, Critical Arts: A
South-North Journal of Cultural & Media Studies, 2009, Vol. 23 Issue 1, p6-25, 20p; DOI:
10.1080/02560040902738966
Brown, Lisa Beljuli, “Abject Bodies The Politics of the Vagina in Brazil and South Africa”,
Theoria, September 2009 doi:10.3167/th.2009.5612002.
Gacitua Marió, Estanislao and Woolcock, Michael, “Assessing Social Exclusion and
Mobility in Brazil”. Social Exclusion and Mobility in Brazil. Chapter 1, IPEA/World Bank,
2011.
Bresser Pereira, Luís C.; “Brazil's Quazi- Stagnation and the Growth with Foreign Savings
Strategy”; International Journal of Political Economy ;vol 32;n04; Winter 2002-2003;pp. 76102
Human Development Report, United Nations, 2009.
Levine, Robert M.; The History of Brazil; Palgrave MacMillan; New York; 2003
Luna, Francisco Vidal; Klein, Herbert S.; Brazil since 1980; Cambridge University Press;
New York; 2006.
Meade, Teresa A.; A Brief History of Brazil; 2nd edition; Checkmark Books; New York
2010.
Menke Renner, Esther Susana, “Who we were, who we are, who we will be”, [ICJ 7.1
(2007) 109-115] ISSN 1472-2089.
PiscitelliI, Adriana, “Looking for New Worlds: Brazilian Women as International
Migrants”, Journal of Women in Culture and Society 2008, vol. 33, no. 42008 by the
University of Chicago.
RibeiroI, Darcy; The Brazilian People; University Press of Florida; Gainesville; 2000
“Removing Social Barriers and Building Social Institutions”. World Development Report
2000/2001.
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Module 3: Post-Colonialism and Social Innovation in Northeast Brazil
This module focuses on theories of Post-Colonialism and citizen action in Northeast
Brazil. Much of the module is concerned with the identification of political spaces, social
technologies and mobilization means so that citizens can exercise democratic decision
making both through representation at the state level and participation in civil society.
Students will be exposed to debates with state government representatives, and gain
experience through interaction with local community organizations mobilized to
improve resident’s lives in impoverish neighborhoods. Experiences of solidarity
economics will receive special attention.
Required Readings
Andreotti, Vanessa Oliveira (2013) Renegotiating epistemic privilege and enchantments with
modernity: the gain in the loss of the entitlement to control and define everything. Social Policy,
Education and Curriculum Research Unit. North Dartmouth: Centre for Policy
Analyses/UMass Dartmouth, pp.,b s.
Escobar, Arturo, “Beyond the Third World: imperial globality, global coloniality and antiglobalisation Social Movements”, Third World Quarterly, Vol 25, No 1, pp 207-230, 2004.
Andreotti, Vanessa Oliveira (2013) The contributions of postcolonial theory to development
education. DEA thinkpeace Association.
Lissovoy, Noah De (2008).Dialectic of Emergency/Emergency of the Dialectic*
Capitalism, Nature, Socialism; 19, 1; ProQuest Central pg. 27
Andreotti, Vanessa. (2012) Education, Knowledge and the Righting of Wrongs. Other
Education: The Journal of Educational Alternatives. Pp 19- 31
Torres, Nelson Maldonato. (2007) “On the Coloniality of Being: Contributions to the
Development of a Concept.” Cultural Studies. 21.2-3 (2007): 240-270.
Mignolo, Walter D. (2011) Geopolitics of Sensing and Knowing: On (De) Coloniality,
Border Thinking, and Epistemic Disobedience. Postcolonial Studies. New York: Routledge.
Mignolo, Walter D (2002). The Geopolitics of Knowledge and the Colonial Difference
South Atlantic Quarterly Winter .101(1): 57-96
Mignolo, Walter D (2000) The many faces of cosmopolis border thinking and critical
cosmopolitanism. Public Culture. Duke University Press –721 – 748
Andreotti, V. (2006). Soft versus critical global citizenship education. Policy & Practice: A
Development Education Review, 3, 40-51
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Camargo Vieira, Susana, “Good Governance and Global Change: Looking at Agents in
Brazil”, IHDP Update Issue 3, 2009.
Garmany, Jeff, “Religion and governmentality: Understanding governance in urban
Brazil”, Geoforum 41, pp 908-918, 2010.
Carter, Miguel, “The landless rural workers´ movement (MST) and democracy in Brazil”,
Centre for Brazilian Studies, University of Oxford, Working Paper CBS-60-05.
McCoy, Nicole. “Envisioning a Future for Recognition: The Case of Black Women's
Movements in Brazil”. Conference Papers -- American Sociological Association, 2009
Annual Meeting, p1, 20p.
Selwyn, Ben, “Trade unions and women’s empowerment in north-east Brazil”, Gender &
Development Vol. 17, No. 2, July 2009.
Thayer, Millie, “Translations and Refusals: Resignifying Meanings as feminist Political
Practice”, Feminist Studies 36, no. 1 (Spring 2010).
Zimmerman, Amber Lynn; McDermott, M. Joan; Gould, Christina M.”The local is global:
third wave feminism, peace, and social justice” Contemporary Justice Review, Mar2009,
Vol. 12 Issue 1, p77-90, 14p.
Garmany, Jeff “The embodied state: governmentality in a Brazilian favela”, Social and
Cultural Geography, Volume 10, number 7, November 2009.
Reyes-Ricon, Maya, Moraes Zouain, Deborah, da Costa Pimenta, Roberto, de Oliveira
Almeida, Gustavo, “New Configuration of the Brazilian State: Liberty and Development
in the Evolution of Government in Brazil” BAR, Curitiba, v. 7, n. 4, art. 6, pp. 413-427,
Oct./Dec. 2010, Available online at http://www.anpad.org.br/bar.
Miller, Ethan, “Other Economies are Possible”. Dollars & Sense, Jul/Aug2006, Issue 266,
p11-15, 5p
Miller, Ethan, “Solidarity Economics: Strategies for Building New Economies From the
Bottom-Up and Inside-Out”, Grassroots Economic Organizing Collective. June 2004.
Other Readings
Jelin, Elizabeth “Emergent Citizenship or Exclusion? Social Movements and NGO’s in the
1990’s” In, Smith, William C. and Roberto Patricio Korzeniewicz, eds. Politics, Social
Change and Economic Restructuring in Latin America. North-South Center, University of
Miami, 1997. Chapter 5.
Melo, Marcus, State Retreat, Governance and Metropolitan Restructuring in Brazil,
Cambridge, 1995.
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Zamboni, Yves, “Participatory Budgeting and Local Governance: an Evidence-Based
Evaluation of Participatory Budgeting Experiences in Brazil”, Working Paper, May 2007.
Evaluation and Grading Criteria
Description of Assignments
Pre-departure Assignments: This will include the analysis of certain pre-departure
readings and movies. It will take into account the capacity to analyze and reflect upon
the reading.
First Quiz: The evaluation of the first module will be a quiz or short written exam. The
objective of the quiz is to evaluate knowledge of some basic social movement theories
and also the situation of social movements in Brazil.
Synthesis and Presentation: The evaluation of the second module will be a synthesis and
presentation of one of the key concepts of social movements in Brazil. The students will
choose one of the topics in which they are most interested, either popular education,
social economy, territory, militancy, or gender. They will have to complete a synthesis
of the text to be distributed to the group before the class. During the class they will
have to give a brief presentation of the text and generate discussion about the topic.
Final Group Presentation: In the evaluation of the third module the students will apply
the concepts presented in the first module to the visits completed by the group. They
will have to debate the possibility of change that comes from these strategies and social
movements.
Participation: Participation refers to attendance, punctuality, attentive listening, and
active participation in all classes, discussions, excursions, and other activities. It also
means appropriate and respectful behavior. The level, frequency, and quality of students’
participation will be monitored and taken into account.
Assessment
Pre-departure Assignments
First Quiz
Synthesis and Presentation
Final Group Presentation
Participation
10%
20%
30%
30%
10%
Grading Scale
94-100%
A
90-93%
A-
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87-89%
84-86%
80-83%
77-79%
74-76%
70-73%
67-69%
64-66%
below 64
B+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
F
Expectations and Policies
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Show up prepared. Be on time, have your readings completed and points in mind
for discussion or clarification. Complying with these elements raises the level of
class discussion for everyone.
Have assignments completed on schedule, printed, and done accordingly to the
specified requirements. This will help ensure that your assignments are returned
in a timely manner.
Ask questions in class. Engage the lecturer. These are often very busy
professionals who are doing us an honor by coming to speak….
Comply with academic integrity policies (no plagiarism or cheating, nothing
unethical).
Respect differences of opinion (classmates’, lecturers, local constituents engaged
with on the visits). You are not expected to agree with everything you hear, but
you are expected to listen across difference and consider other perspectives
with respect.
Please refer to the SIT Study Abroad Student Handbook for policies on
academic integrity, ethics, warning and probation, diversity and disability, sexual
harassment and the academic appeals process.
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