Lessons from Latin America's neo‐liberal experiment: An overview of labour and social policies since the 1980s

Introducing the six country studies that follow, this analytical overview shows that the social and labour policies inspired by the Washington Consensus – implemented across much of Latin America in the 1980s and 1990s – consistently failed to deliver the expected improvements. Labour flexibilization, decentralization of collective bargaining, pension privatization and other measures to increase market provision of welfare typically resulted in growing informality, widening inequalities and shrinking social protection coverage, while also failing to stimulate employment growth. But the lessons have been learned: many such policies have recently been reconsidered and there are signs that a more balanced policy approach may be emerging in Latin America.     

Unveiling the public procurement market in Brazil: A methodological tool to measure its size and potential

Public procurement plays a key role both in the proper functioning of public administration and in the realization of broader policy objectives. This article aims to present a methodology to assess the Brazilian public procurement market based on government statistics, as well as reflect on the potential of public procurement policy for the development of the country. The article found that public procurement comprised an average of 13.8% of Brazil's gross domestic product during 2006−2012. The Brazilian public procurement market is comparable to that of a typical Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) country. These findings imply great potential for public procurement in Brazil as a policy instrument for promoting the country's development.     

Constructing a city,building a life: Brazilian construction workers’ continuous mobility as a permanent life strategy

This article provides an ethnographic analysis of domestic labor mobility among Brazilian construction workers in the context of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. We start from the premise that mobile laborers are crucial for the physical development and expansion of cities. However, the importance of domestic migrants in this process is insufficiently addressed in mobility studies. Building on existing research on domestic population movements in Brazil, we argue that the current generation of mobile construction workers draws on the intangible and material infrastructure generated by previous generations of migrants to enable novel kinds of (permanent) labor mobilities.     

国际竞争力视角下金砖国家发展优势评析

从世界上两大国际竞争力评价体系入手,对金砖国家在WEF和IMD的国际竞争力排名进行综合分析,并结合全球经济繁荣指数、创新能力指数,对金砖国家竞争力的未来变化趋势进行整体剖析,得出金砖国家的比较优势。发现金砖国家各有所长,合作潜力巨大,如能建立有效的合作机制则能够将潜在的比较优势变为国际竞争优势,为金砖国家整体竞争力的提升提供重要的基础和前提。     

The Open Government Partnership: Mere Smokescreen or New Paradigm?

In 2011, on the initiative of US President Barack Obama 8 governments and 9 civil society organizations (CSOs) came together to create the Open Government Partnership (OGP). The OGP was proclaimed as a new paradigm in promoting open government and democratic principles through the creation of participatory mechanisms involving governments and CSOs. This article aims to examine in more detail if the OGP, after 5 years in existence, has lived up to the initial proclamations as a new model of democracy-promotion at the global level. Departing from theoretical considerations on the potential of participatory mechanisms for the promotion of democratic processes, the article analyzes the OGP processes of 3 founding members, Brazil, the US, and the UK. Although the structure of the OGP is highly innovative in many respects, the findings suggest that the governments of the 3 countries examined have used the OGP as a smokescreen to distract from on-going corruption, lacking transparency, and government secrecy. This article contributes to research on the possibilities and challenges of effectively democratizing global governance mechanisms through the involvement of governments and civil society actors.     

Silver economy: opportunities and challenges to Brazil adopt the European Union’s strategy

This paper deals with the construction of the silver economy (or the longevity economy) strategy in Brazil and its contribution to the economic development. The first and second parts of the paper summarize the international debate on the concept, mainly in the countries of the European Union. The third part approaches the focus on the ageing population in Brazil, still dominated by a pessimistic view. In the next section of the paper, the action opportunities for the longevity saving strategy in Brazil are exposed with summaries of some key sectors, according to the international literature on the silver economy. The income of the older people and the purchasing power of families with older adults are analysed in the following sections. In the conclusion, some recommended actions for building the silver economy strategy in Brazil is discussed.     

Native American Literature and Its Place in the Inter-American Project

Abstract

Issues of Native American literature and culture are placed in a comparative and inter-American perspective, where texts from Canada, the United States, Spanish America, and Brazil are discussed and contrasted. Native American texts are analyzed in the context of inter-American literary study, which is defined as an interdisciplinary approach to the literatures of North, Central, and South America. The argument is made that Native American literature represents the cultural and historical foundation of the entire inter-American project.     

A conversation with Edgard Cornacchione: understanding the HRD field in Brazil through his lens and perspectives

This article contains a conversation with Edgard B. Cornacchione Jr, Full Professor and Chairman of the Department of Accounting and Actuarial Sciences, College of Economics, Business and Accountancy (FEA) at University of Sao Paulo (USP), Brazil. He is a pioneer scholar in HRD in Brazil, holding a PhD in the field from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and another PhD in Accounting from USP. This interview explores Edgard's career in HRD practice, research, teaching and outreach and service, in addition to experiences in other related fields, such as Accounting and Business Education. It also considers current insights and perspectives of how HRD has been practised and studied in Brazil. He has been teaching at USP since 1992. To an international audience, who still might not be so familiar with his work and path, this interview has the potential to enhance both the understanding of his experiences and the status of the field in Brazil.     

The End of Football and Fiesta? Social Insurrection and National Identity in Twenty-First-Century Brazil

ABSTRACT

Carnaval and futebol (football) have both been central to the construction of Brazil in the imagination of global audiences. This includes contributing to stereotypes of Brazil as a country of peaceful, festive, and sensualized people, even though historically Brazilian Carnaval and football have always been sites of social contestation and popular participation in the construction of collective identity. In recent years, Brazil has burst onto the global stage as a key player due to its economic rise, its more proactive international diplomacy, and its venture as the host of major global sport events. Protest and political violence have erupted on the streets of Brazil in a manner quite at odds with the circulating reports on the ‘success story' of Brazil. A combination of the country's increasing global prominence and developments in media and communication technologies of the global era means that global and local audiences have access to more detailed, nuanced, and grounded information about Brazil than has ever been possible before. This moment of intensified visibility has brought Brazil's imagined identity (both within Brazil and within the global imaginary) to a turning point; one where national symbols such as Carnaval and football are declining in relevance. In this article we argue that due to this combination of forces, Carnaval and football, at least in their manufactured forms that are visible to global audiences, no longer have the popular potency within Brazil that they once did, but have rather become what Bakhtin would call ‘mere spectacles’. We consider Carnaval and football within historical and contemporary context drawing upon a variety of sources, including secondary literature and mainstream and alternative media reports.     

Migration bias in indirect estimates of regional childhood mortality levels

Demographers often use Brass‐style indirect methods to obtain childhood mortality estimates for regions within developing countries. Regional populations are not closed to migration, however, and mortality reports of women resident in a certain region on the survey date may contain information on events and exposure that occurred elsewhere as the mother migrated. Including this “imported”; mortality information may cause significant bias in regional estimates. In this paper the authors: (1) investigate the possible magnitude of migration bias using a multiregional simulation model, (2) propose a modification to standard methods which should reduce bias in many circumstances, and (3) apply the modified technique to data from Brazil's 1980 Census. We find that migration bias can indeed be significant, and that in the specific case of São Paulo state, imported mortality information may result in overestimates of local mortality levels of 10–15% when using Brass‐style methods.