The Second World War and the Rise of Mass Nationalism in Brazil: Class, Race and Citizenship with Alexandre Fortes

The talk will present the main arguments of the author's recent book, which reexamines the socioeconomic and political transformation that occurred in Brazil during the 1940s in connection to the country's involvement in the Second World War. Integrating social and political history, the author explores the adoption of new policies around state-sponsored industrialization, the consolidation of Brazilian labor law institutions, and the expanded influence of ‘racial democracy’ in the country's domestic and foreign policy. The book argues that the nature of the Brazilian state and its definitions of citizenship were redefined both from ‘the top’ – as a result of Brazil’s integration into the new international order following the War – and ‘from below’ - as antifascism and mass nationalism opened new spaces for subaltern agency.

Alexandre Fortes is a Full Professor of Contemporary History at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Previously, he was a Mellon Visiting Professor in the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Duke University.

Part of the Brazilian Studies Lunchtime Series.