Rio Branco Forum on Brazil



Fall 2003

The goal of the Rio Branco Forum on Brazil is to encourage the study and research of Brazilian politics and culture at Berkeley and in the Bay Area. In addition to the public forum, which includes lectures, conferences and cultural activities, CLAS hosts the Rio Branco Visiting Chair of Brazil. These activities have resulted in a transnational working network of Brazilianists.


Panel Discussion
"Lula’s Brazil: A Challenge to Neoliberalism?"

The election of Workers’ Party candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to the Brazilian presidency with 61 percent of the popular vote has presented new possibilities for social change in Brazil and the rest of Latin America. Many Brazilian activists and intellectuals are currently engaged in an important debate about the best strategies for achieving long-term social transformation, the elimination of poverty and hunger and a reduction in social inequality. Three leading Brazilian Scholars will be present to share their views on the current political, social and economic situation in Brazil

Francisco Menezes is an economist who specializes in agricultural development. He is also the director of the Brazilian Institute of Economic and Social Analyses and a member of the National Council on Nutrition and Food Security. He has written extensively on sustainable agriculture and government food policy.

Maria Helena Moreira Alves is a political scientist and the author of State and Opposition in Military Brazil. Moreira Alves has served as an adviser to Workers’ Party elected officials. Currently, she works for Viva Rio, the largest non-governmental organization in Rio de Janeiro’s hillside shantytowns.

Marcos Arruda is an economist and the director of Policy Alternatives for the Southern Cone, Rio de Janeiro. Arruda has written about globalization, the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas and alternative courses for the Workers’ Party. Among his works is External Debt: Brazil and the International Financial Crisis.

Co-sponsored with the Institute of International Studies, the Center for Study of the Americas and Brazil Strategy Network, and the Mellon Foundation

Friday, October 31, 1:00 – 5:00 pm
220 Stephens Hall, Geballe Room

Analysis and photo of the event


Lula: A Winner’s Journey
Directed by Cosme Coelho (2003)
U.S. Premiere

This is the startling story of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the son of a poverty-ridden family from Northeast Brazil, who learned to read at the age of ten, was mutilated by a factory-floor accident, lost his wife through medical negligence and was arrested and imprisoned under the oppressive law of the military dictatorship. In spite of a difficult life, he became the President of Brazil. 50 minutes.

Prof. Harley Shaiken, Chair of the Center for Latin American Studies, will conduct a question and answer session after the film.

Part of the 7th International Latino Film Festival takes place from November 6-16 at various locations throughout the Bay Area and includes 68 films from 12 countries.

Tickets are $7.00. Ticket phone line is 925-866-9559. A complete list of films and ticket information can be found at www.latinofilmfestival.org. More information on the film can be found on the festival website here.

(Portuguese with English subtitles)

Sunday, November 16, 2:15 p.m.
Wheeler Auditorium

 

CLAS Events
on Brazil

Brazil in Berkeley


Fall 2005

Rio Branco Forum

Brazil: Culture, Society and Politics
 
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