Class and Race in Brazil: Black Trade Unionists and “Racial Democracy,” 1945–1980

This year, I will be working on a project about class and racial relations in Brazil between 1945 and 1980, a period of industrial growth, urbanization, and national-developmentalist government rhetoric. It was also a moment of a hegemonic discourse that portraited Brazil as a "racial democracy." By tracing the trajectory of black trade unionists in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, I argue that "racial democracy" and labor policies that began in the 1930s were two sides of the same coin. One cannot be fully understood without the other. Newspapers, union files, police documents, oral histories, photographs, correspondences, and memoirs—as well as government and diplomatic material from a vast array of archives—have been my main sources. This project aims to be an innovative contribution to understand the complex history of inequalities, particularly through the struggles for racial and social justice and democracy in Brazil and elsewhere.

Research partners could be involved in a variety of ways, depending on their skill set and interests as well as the needs of the projects. During some time, they might be collecting relevant academic articles and book chapters and summarizing them. They could also help me to analyze primary sources both in English and Portuguese. If they are comfortable with database programs, they could give me some assistance in using them. This is a position that would be especially useful for anyone interested in historical research and wants to see how projects develop over time. It will also be of interest to students with an interest in Latin America, in the debates on inequality, and the analyses of labor and race relations in that region and in comparative and transnational perspectives.