Armando Boito

O sindicalismo deixou a crise para trás?: um novo ciclo de greves na década de 2000

The aim of this paper is to resume, in an indicative and preliminary order, the debate on the crisis or the historical decline of trade unionism. The question we want to raise is this: union activity, in the 2000s, is indicative that the Brazilian trade unions overcame their crisis? Our text analyzes a cycle of strikes under way in Brazil since 2004, stressing, among other elements, the number of strikes and strikers, the offensive nature of these strikes and the victories that workers have been obtaining in their demands. We support the hypothesis, still under investigation, that union activity in Brazil in the 2000s is a very strong indicator of the mistake in the thesis of historical decline of unionism.

Estado e burguesia no capitalismo neoliberal

This article, fruit of ongoing research, engages in a type of analysis that has to a large extent been neglected in Brazil. Reaffirming ties to a rich tradition of Brazilian Sociology and Political Science — a tradition that came into being in the 1960s and 1970s — the author attempts to examine the interests of fractions of the Brazilian bourgeoisie that come to act as distinct segments within the national political process and the relations that these interests maintain with the politics of the State. Conflicts between these fractions of the bourgeoisie and the relations that, as bourgeois fractions in a dependent country, the former develop with imperialism and with popular classes are also examined. In an approach that is always tentative and only a beginning, the article also makes reference to the shift in the bourgeois hierarchy of power, that is, the shift that occurred within the block in power during the two presidential mandates of Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva. We offer the hypothesis that dependent Brazilian capitalism’s new position within internationalization did not impede the action and improved position of a powerful sector of the large bourgeoisie of this country within the block in power, a situation that developed over the first decade of the 2000s.

Social Classes, Neodevelopmentalism, and Brazilian Foreign Policy under Presidents Lula and Dilma

The transition from the FHC to the Lula administration produced an epochal change within the power bloc. Large-scale international financial capital lost power, while the internal grande bourgeoisie ascended politically because of a policy-oriented broad-front approach that included even the popular classes. The Lula and Dilma governments did not break with the neoliberal model for capitalism, but because they represented a particular fraction of the capitalist class and because they owed their support to particular classes they introduced major changes in the economic policy, the political orientation, and the international performance of the Brazilian state. Na passagem da era FHC para a era Lula, ocorreu uma mudança no interior do bloco no poder: o grande capital financeiro internacional perdeu força e a grande burguesia interna brasileira ascendeu politicamente, apoiando-se numa ampla frente política que abarca, inclusive, classes populares. Os governos Lula e Dilma não romperam com o modelo de capitalista neoliberal, mas introduziram, em decorrência da fração da classe capitalista que representam e em decorrência também das classes nas quais se apoiam, mudanças importantes na economia, na política e na atuação internacional do Estado brasileiro.

Brasil: classes sociais, neodesenvolvimentismo e política externa nos governos Lula e Dilma

O presente artigo trata da relacao entre as classes sociais e a politica economica, a politica social e a politica externa nos governos Lula e Dilma. Durante esses governos houve uma mudanca no interior do bloco no poder: a grande burguesia interna brasileira ascendeu politicamente e passou a apoiar-se em uma ampla frente politica que abarca, inclusive, classes populares. Denominamos “neodesenvolvimentismo” o programa politico dessa frente – a politica de desenvolvimento possivel nos marcos do capitalismo neoliberal. Os governos Lula e Dilma nao romperam com esse modelo de capitalismo, mas introduziram, em decorrencia das classes sociais que representam e nas quais se apoiam, mudancas importantes na economia, na politica e na atuacao internacional do Estado brasileiro.

Decline in Unionism? An Analysis of the New Wave of Strikes in Brazil

There was much discussion in the 1980s and 1990s about the crisis in the union movement in Brazil, and some writers even began to talk of its historic decline. An analysis of union activity in Brazil from 2000 to 2009—how many strikes took place, how many strikers were involved, whether their objectives were defensive or offensive, how such conflicts were conducted, the extent of each, and, perhaps most important, what the workers thought they were achieving—suggests that, on the contrary, we are witnessing a definite recovery in union effectiveness.

State, State Institutions, and Political Power in Brazil

The political conflicts during the Workers’ Party administrations led by Luís Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff have been driven by disputes between two fractions of the country’s bourgeoisie: the internal and the internationalized bourgeoisie. Their ideologies, policies, institutions, and forms of political representation have determined government policies and outcomes. These processes have unfolded within an authoritarian democracy whose structures have not been challenged by the party. The party’s limited power and continuing timidity have produced an aggressive reaction by the internationalized bourgeoisie and the upper middle class, leading to a severe crisis in the administration of President Dilma Rousseff. Durante os dois governos do Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), chefiados por Luís Inácio Lula da Silva e por Dilma Rousseff, os conflitos políticos têm sido conflagrados por disputas entre duas facções burguesas do país: a burguesia interna e a burguesia internacionalizada. Suas respectivas formas de representações políticas, ideologias, programas, bem como instituições têm determinado políticas governamentais e seus resultados. Esses processos evoluíram em uma democracia autoritária, cujas estruturas não foram contestadas pelo PT. A timidez contínua e o poder limitado do partido têm produzido uma reação agressiva por parte da burguesia internacionalizada e da classe média alta, levando a uma crise severa na administração da Presidente Dilma Rousseff.