Brazil: What Everyone Need To Know

Product Description

Brazil is one of the most important but puzzling countries in the world. A nation of 200 million people, it has vast natural resource reserves, rich cultural traditions, a middle class undergoing explosive growth, & social welfare policies that are models for much of the world (`la bolsa familia, ` which provides a guaranteed income to poor families). &, after decades of authoritarian rule, it is a stable democracy. Yet it is beset by problems that no other advanced economy suffers from: staggeringly high crime rates, sky-high inequality levels, & endemic political corruption. Emblematic of these two sides of Brazil is the selection of Rio as site of both the next Summer Olympics & the next World Cup. While the choice of Rio for these events points to Brazil`s expanding presence on the world stage, so far the construction & planning for the events have been disastrous, threatening to deeply embarrass the nation. In Brazil: What Everyone Needs to Know, Riordan Roett, an eminent scholar of Brazil & Latin America, will provide a rich overview of Brazil, covering Brazilian society, politics, culture, & the economy. The book begins with a series of chapters on Brazilian history, beginning with the pre-colonial period & moving on, in succession, to the long era of Portuguese rule, the birth of independent Brazil, the emergence of modern Brazil in the 1930s, the era of the dictators, &
- finally
- to the democratic regime that came into being in the 1980s. Throughout the book, Roett will focus sharply on the fault lines
- racial, economic, political, & cultural
- that have plagued Brazil from its beginnings to this day. As the 2016 World Cup & Summer Olympics approach, interest in Brazil is sure to rise. Roett`s synthesis will provide interested readers with an accessible, authoritative overview of this troubled yet fascinating giant.