No description available.

No description available.

This dissertation argues that racism in Brazil is largely a product of the Eurocentrism that presides over the formation and formulation of Brazil(ianness). The ideological construction of the nation on notions of identity and difference rooted in a Eurocentric definition of modernity has translated into an epistemological division between modern subjects (the Colonial Self: the Portuguese) and subjects of modernity (the Colonised Others: the Indian and the African). That is, between subjects and objects. The objectification of the Others can be found within the realm of the social (the Other as social object: the Slave), the cultural (the Other as cultural object: the Exotic), and the biological (the Other as sexual object: the Erotic). This epistemological division enabled the hierarchisation of differences between the Civilised Self and the Savage Other(s) and the racist (re)invention of Brazil in the 19th century. This dissertation re-examines racism in Brazil by means of the analysis of the three historical events that have come to define the nation (Discovery, Independence and Abolition) as well as the so-called essence of the nation (Hybridity). The analysis reveals that the reinvention of Brazil as a hybrid nation has not eliminated the hierarchy of differences. On the contrary, the celebration of hybridity has served to obscure the largely exploitative character of the processes of cultural hybridity [mestiçagem or transculturation] and biological hybridity [miscegenação or miscegenation] and to mask secular prejudices and discrimination against the Indian and African Others. In Brazil, hybridity still operates within the Eurocentric discourse of Brazilianness that incorporated the Indian and African Others as objects or, at best, dependent subjects in the formation and formulation of Brazil(ianness). The corollary of this is that without unthinking and undoing the Eurocentrism that informs the national imagination there is little that hybridity can do to undermine racism and white hegemony in Brazil. / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of History and Politics, 2008

This dissertation explores the dynamics of market relationships in a regional vegetable market in the Serra da Ibiapaba, Ceara, Northeast Brazil. During the last two decades this region has undergone a rapid socio-economic transformation involving the widespread adoption of intensive cropping patterns and modern farming technology. Vegetable, especially tomato, production has increased the economic viability of small-farm alternatives; however, farmers now find themselves caught up in market forces over which they have little control. The Ibiapaba vegetable market supplies four large urban markets within Brazil's North/Northeast, and the structure of the supply channels to each market varies significantly. Analysis of a middleman sample reveals that this market accommodates remarkable diversity--small and undercapitalized marketers, large truckowners, and several variations between these extremes. Not only is this market open to many types of market enterprise, it also provides an opportunity for upward mobility, the major mechanism of which is the purchase of a truck. The highly perishable nature of vegetable products and the organizational exigencies of long distance marketing make this profession extremely risk-laden. Not only do market participants face highly variable prices, but also rigid schedule demands. Since these products cannot be stored, middlemen must be able to maintain both regular supply lines and secure buyers, and they respond to these requirements by constantly devising, testing, and revising behavioral strategies which minimize such inherent market risks. Evidence suggests that different types of middlemen have access to different types of strategies: middlemen with abundant resources enjoy definite advantages over their less fortunate counterparts. These comparative advantages can result in greater financial reward and ultimately in a larger share of the market. Vegetable farmers also face risks in a market characterized by extreme price variation and poor local infrastructure. They also confront this instability through the elaboration of behavioral strategies which often involve a loss of relative bargaining power with middlemen. A comparison of producers from two separate municipics of the region reveals the importance of improving information flow to farmers. It is critical that farmers increase their marketing skills. This dissertation employs both standard economic price analyses as well as traditional anthropological methods to account for middleman and farmer market behavior. A model of market dynamics outlines the process middleman response to new opportunities in the socio-economic environment, and generates hypotheses regarding the long-range effects of increased market activity within a capitalist framework. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of market system performance, defined not only in terms of the efficient allocation of resources, but also with regard to distributional outcomes of market trends. The trade-off between market growth and distributional equity is considered with respect to the specific characteristics of the Ibiapaba region.

No description available.

Not available / text

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Stanford University, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [399]-412).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1968. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.