The Brazilians

"Introduction to Brazil by a law professor who has been an engaged visitor since the 1960s. Themes of race, political power, violence, environment, religious diversity, and popular culture are made accessible through biographical profiles. Balances exuberance and indignation better than most recent introductions, but at a length that may exhaust the general reader. See Levine's work (item #bi 00006099#) or Eakin's (item #bi 00006100#) for more succinct introductory studies"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.

A country warmly hospitable and surprisingly violent, physically beautiful, yet appallingly poor--these are the contrasts Joseph Page explores in The Brazilians, a monumental book on one of the most colorful and paradoxical places on earth. Once one of the strongest market economies in the world, Brazil now struggles to emerge from a deep economic and social crisis, the latest and deepest nose-dive in a giddy roller-coaster ride that Brazilians have experienced over the past three decades. Page examines Brazil in the context of this current crisis and the events leading up to it. In so doing, he reveals the unique character of the Brazilian people and how this national character has brought the country to where it is today--teetering on the verge of joining the First World, or plunging into unprecedented environmental calamity and social upheaval. Not since Luigi Barzini's The Italians has a society been so deeply and accurately portrayed.--Adapted from publisher description.

Introducing Brazil -- Part one. Who are the Brazilians? -- The Portuguese -- The Africans -- The Indians -- The immigrants -- Part two. The pyramid of power in Brazil -- The haves -- Controlling Brazilian minds : a case study of the Globe network -- The have-nots -- Lula and the workers' party : who speaks for the voiceless?-- Part three. The curse of violence in Brazil -- The culture of brutality -- Suffer the little children -- Abusing nature's bounty -- The Amazon Basin : a case study of violence -- Part four. Spiritual Brazil -- Roman Catholicism -- The Orixás -- Evangelicals on the move -- Part five. In search of what makes Brazilians Brazilian -- Soccer madness -- The lesser gods -- The telenovela : a national obsession -- In the Land of Carnival -- Whither Brazil.