The conservative use of civil society in Brazil: the influence of the First World War on the political thought of Oliveira Vianna

• Autores: Robert Howes
• Localización: Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies, ISSN-e 1469-9524, ISSN 1470-1847, Vol. 26, Nº. 1, 2020, págs. 43-64
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This article reassesses the Brazilian intellectual and publicist Oliveira Vianna’s reputation as an authoritarian, arguing that he should be understood as a conservative thinker, whose main priority was to render change safe for the existing hierarchical social order. Vianna’s little-known early newspaper articles show that the First World War was a key event in his intellectual formation, raising fears of a threat to Brazil’s sovereignty and integrity. Vianna identified a lack of social solidarity as the main factor in the country’s vulnerability. In the 1920s, he developed a solution based on civil society and the public sphere before turning to syndicalism and corporatism after 1930. His reform of the syndical legislation in 1938-40 shows how his ideas had long-lasting practical repercussions.