Lexington Books, 2004
Mauricio Font and Anthony Peter Spanakos, eds.
with the assistance of Cristina Bordin

For years, successive governments in Brazil grappled with the vexing issues of unequal distribution of wealth and runaway inflation. In the 1990s, long-overdue reforms began to help tame inflation, streamline bloated and ineffective government and address chronic social ills. But problems and questions remain: Why is Brazil still so poor, and why is inequality so intransigent? Were some reforms counter-productive, or could they have been implemented better?

Reforming Brazil is a thought-provoking examination of these and other important issues facing Brazil today, from privatization and agrarian reform to entrepreneurial programs and hemispheric integration. Written by 11 Brazilianist scholars from a range of disciplines and intellectual traditions, the book offers compelling new insights for international policymakers, economists and scholars of Brazil.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Part I: Introduction

I. Dawn of a New Era – Mauricio A. Font  (PDF Version)
1. The Reform Agenda – Anthony Peter Spanakos

Part II: Reforms

2. Monetary and Fiscal Reforms – Eliana Cardoso
3. Privatization: Reform through Negotiation – Maria Hermínia Tavares de Almeida
4. Social Policy Reform – Sônia Draibe
5. Agrarian Reform – Anthony Pereira
6. Political Reform: The “Missing Link” – David Fleischer

Part III: Institutions, Actors, and Regional Context

7. Competitive Federalism and Distributive Conflict – Alfred Montero
8. Industrialists and Liberalization – Peter Kingstone
9. Entreprenueurs: The PNBE – Eduardo Rodrigues Gomes and Fabrícia C. Guimarães
10. Working-Class Contention – Salvador Sandoval
11. Brazil and Hemispheric Integration – João Paulo Machado Peixoto