Orpheus and Power: The Movimento Negro of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1945-1988

Hanchard, Michael George

ISBN 10: 0691002703 / ISBN 13: 9780691002705

Published by Princeton University Press, 1998

About this Item

Princeton. 1998. Princeton University Press. Reprinted Paperback Edition. Very Good in Wrappers. 0691002703. 203 pages. paperback. Cover illustrations Top: From the film Black Orpheus. Courtesy of Janus Films. Bottom: Courtesy of Luis Paulo Lima. keywords: Latin America Brazil History Race Afro-Brazilian. DESCRIPTION - From recent data on disparities between Brazilian whites and non-whites in areas of health, education, and welfare, it is clear that vast racial inequalities do exist in Brazil, contrary to earlier assertions in race-relations scholarship that the country is. a racial democracy.' Here Michael George Hanchard explores the implications of this increasingly evident racial inequality, highlighting Afro-Brazilian attempts at mobilizing for civil rights and the powerful efforts of white elites to neutralize such attempts. He presents a wealth of empirical evidence comparing Afro-Brazilian militants' effectiveness with that of their counterparts in sub-Saharan Africa, the United States, and the Caribbean in the post - World War II period. inventory #13049.

Seller Inventory # z13049

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Orpheus and Power: The Movimento Negro of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1945-1988
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication Date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691002703
• ISBN 13: 9780691002705
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: Very Good in Wrappers
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket

About this title

Synopsis

From recent data on disparities between Brazilian whites and non-whites in areas of health, education, and welfare, it is clear that vast racial inequalities do exist in Brazil, contrary to earlier assertions in race relations scholarship that the country is a "racial democracy." Here Michael George Hanchard explores the implications of this increasingly evident racial inequality, highlighting Afro-Brazilian attempts at mobilizing for civil rights and the powerful efforts of white elites to neutralize such attempts. Within a neo-Gramscian framework, Hanchard shows how racial hegemony in Brazil has hampered ethnic and racial identification among non-whites by simultaneously promoting racial discrimination and false premises of racial equality.


Drawing from personal archives of and interviews with participants in the Movimento Negro of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Hanchard presents a wealth of empirical evidence about Afro-Brazilian militants, comparing their effectiveness with their counterparts in sub-Saharan Africa, the United States, and the Caribbean in the post-World War II period. He analyzes, in comprehensive detail, the extreme difficulties experienced by Afro-Brazilian activists in identifying and redressing racially specific patterns of violation and discrimination. Hanchard argues that the Afro-American struggle to subvert dominant cultural forms and practices carries the danger of being subsumed by the contradictions that these dominant forms produce.

About the Author

Michael George Hanchard is Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University.