The massacre of Canudos In 1897 is a pivotal episode in Brazilian social history. Looking at the event through the eyes of the inhabitants, Levine challenges traditional interpretations and gives weight to the fact that most of the Canudenses were of mixed-raced descent and were thus perceived as opponents to progress and civilization.
In 1897 Brazilian military forces destroyed the millenarian settlement of Canudos, murdering as many as 35,000 pious rural folk who had taken refuge in the remote northeast backlands of Brazil. Fictionalized in Mario Vargas Llosa's acclaimed novel,...

This book examines the life and times of Getulio Vargas, Brazilian dictator and president for most of the period from 1930 to 1954. It asks how Vargas' legacy influenced Brazil, and to what extent his social legislation affected people's lives. Vargas ignored individual rights and devoted as much effort to manipulating workers as to benefiting them. He did not perceive the unequal distribution of power as a problem that needed to be solved. Although Vargas promised much and delivered little, Brazilians idolized him. Ordinary people would shrug and say, "The President always thought about...

Focusing on Brazil, this text covers issues such as: the legacy of colour; social realities; and diversions and assertive behaviour.

Focusing on Brazil, this text covers issues such as: the legacy of colour; social realities; and diversions and assertive behaviour.

The author situates the work experience in Latin America's broader history in a chronological order and divided into five periods. With each period, he discusses the chief economic, political and social characteristics as they relate to work, identifying with continuities from the previous period.

The author situates the work experience in Latin America's broader history in a chronological order and divided into five periods. With each period, he discusses the chief economic, political and social characteristics as they relate to work, identifying with continuities from the previous period.

Carolina Maria de Jesus (1914-1977), nicknamed Bitita, was a destitute black Brazilian woman born in the rural interior who migrated to the industrial city of Sao Paulo. This is her autobiography, which includes details about her experiences of race relations and sexual intimidation.

Carolina Maria de Jesus (1914-1977), nicknamed Bitita, was a destitute black Brazilian woman born in the rural interior who migrated to the industrial city of Sao Paulo. This is her autobiography, which includes details about her experiences of race relations and sexual intimidation.

This volume presents a social history of life in mid-19th-century Cuba as experienced by George Backhouse (and his wife, Grace), who served on the British Havana Mixed Commission for the Suppression of the Slave Trade. Documented with extracts from the Backhouse's correspondence, diaries and other contemporary papers, Martinez-Fernandez paints a detailed picture of the Cuban slave trade, its role in the sugar industry, and the interrelated contradictions within Cuba's economy, society and politics. The Backhouse story provides addition al insights into important aspects of life in the "male"...

In August 1960 the publication of Quarto de Despejo (Child of the Dark) created a sensation in Brazil and in the rest of the world as it appeared in translations in fourteen languages. That diary of a poor black woman from a favela on the outskirts of Sao Paulo became the best-selling book in Brazilian history. In it, Carolina Maria de Jesus chronicled her life as an unemployed, single parent of three children, eking out a precarious existence selling scrap paper and other detritus found in the city streets. She described how she wrote at night on the scavenged scraps. Her...