Colloquium Brazil Futures: Past and Present

April 7, 2006 - 9:00 am

This colloquium explores how Brazilians have attempted to grow and develop in ways that meet the needs of its population, the extent to which such efforts have succeeded, and the obstacles that impede faster progress. Participants examine contemporary reform efforts and seek to identify the steps necessary to accelerate the pace of social development. The one-day gathering probes economic, political, social, and cultural factors. How close is Brazil to shaking its “land of the future” syndrome? How consolidated and functional is Brazilian democracy? How is Brazil responding to the challenges of globalization? How is the country addressing its equity gaps? What is the country’s reform agenda to reach its potential?

Participants in four panels will address these and related questions.

Panels:
(1) Brazil Futures in Historical Perspective
(2) Reform Agenda: Social Policy
(3) New Democracy after 1985: Players, Policy, and Prospects
(4) Reform Agenda: The FHC and Lula Years

Participants: Jordan Young, Albert Fishlow, Ronald Schneider, Renato Boschi, Joao Paulo Peixoto, Thomas Trebat, Jose Antonio Cheibub, Vanessa Elias de Oliveira, John Guidry, Jeffrey Rubin, James Macinko, Ted Goertzel, Claudio Goncalvez Couto, Maxine Margolis, Laura Randall, Kenneth Erickson, Amy Chazkel, Desmond Arias, John Collins, Jack Hammond, Michael Turner, Mauricio Font.