Análise Social

References to Brazil in the Portuguese Fascist Newspaper Revolução

2025-04-10T14:00:20+01:00

This paper aims to analyze how the political events in Brazil after the 1930 revolution, which brought Vargas to power, were interpreted by the Portuguese fascist newspaper “Revolution”. The rise of Salazar in Portugal and Vargas in Brazil raised expectations around the fascistization of politics in both countries due to the insurgence of extremist right-wing parties and/or political factions in their quests for power. From a distance, the Portuguese National-Syndicalism movement and its periodical, Revolução [Revolution], which had no correspondents in Brazil, sought to understand what was happening and somehow influence the course of events. By analyzing the many references to Brazil over the nearly two years when this Portuguese periodical was published, we are able to perceive the difficulties the Portuguese fascists had in understanding the Brazilian political conjuncture. As their disappointment grew, especially regarding Vargas’ approximation with the liberals, they joined dissident Varguist groups, who likewise had no ties to fascism.

Back to the countryside (1940s-1950s). Rethinking rural space through Lefebvre’s urban sociology

2025-06-03T11:26:10+01:00

This paper aims to rediscover Henri Lefebvre’s unknown contribution to the debate on the rural question during the last century and establish a connection with his most renowned urban studies. The Anglophone debate in rural sociology has yet to discuss this topic, and there is only partial systematic discussion on Lefebvre’s rural studies. This article’s originality lies in its discussion and reconstruction of Lefebvre’s contribution to the debate on the rural question in France. It supports the thesis that understanding Lefebvre’s intellectual period of reflection on rural space (1940s-1950s) is crucial to comprehending subsequent studies on the urban and the production of space. Consequently, I emphasize the significance of revisiting Lefebvre’s earliest rural studies as a starting point for understanding his urban reflections. This article aims to explain how urban studies are a vital progression that emerges from the social inquiries conducted in rural studies. The radical transformation of nature and the peasant universe brought about by capitalism will lead Lefebvre to delve into the epochal problem of the urban question.

Literacy practices in northern Mozambique: “baneanes”, “mujojos” and “mouros” manuscripts in the 18th and 19th centuries

2023-09-06T13:53:30+01:00

The writing of African History, started in the 1950’s, initially focuses on the use of oral sources over written documents for the analysis of Africa’s past. Recent research have highlighted the importance of the interplay between the oral and the written in pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial contexts. This article explores literacy practices in northern Mozambique, examining how writing circulated and was used by people identified as “baneanes”, “mouros” and “mujojos”, between the end of the eighteenth century and early nineteen.