The media has been mostly treating the contemporary crisis in Brazil as a consequence of corruption scandals ignoring the connections between political changes and transformations in the social structure. The aim of this workshop is to analyze the current political struggles in Brazil as expressions of broader conflicts, in particular, distributive disputes, while also observing the polarization in attempts to define the dominant narrative about what is at stake.

We are inviting scholars engaged with understanding contemporary Brazil from a wide range of perspectives, and disciplines, including political philosophy, sociology, economy, law, gender studies, urban and rural studies, cultural studies and environmental anthropology. The workshop is organized around four thematic sessions, starting with a discussion about the struggles for political power and the underlying class divisions, leading to an analysis of transformations at the socio-economic structure.

The third and fourth sessions discuss the struggles for rights taking place during the last years in Brazil both in urban and rural environments.

This workshop is part of a seminar project developed with master students enrolled at the Institute of Sociology and the Institute of Latin American Studies of Freie Universtität Berlin. The students will chair the sessions and comment on the presentations.