Racism, democracy, and civil society in Brazil: Comparing non -governmental organizations with neighborhood associations in the state of Bahia.
Item
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Title
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Racism, democracy, and civil society in Brazil: Comparing non -governmental organizations with neighborhood associations in the state of Bahia.
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Identifier
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AAI3074676
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identifier
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3074676
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Creator
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Reiter, Bernd.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Kenneth Paul Erickson
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Date
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2003
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Political Science, General
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Abstract
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This dissertation analyzes the most salient obstacle to consolidating democracy in Brazil, namely that society's deeply rooted racialized exclusion. Such exclusion has become "normal" in Brazilian society and is part of the prevailing common sense. Symbolical whiteness has been used by elites to justify their own privileges and to exclude the majority of Brazilians from the exercise of their rights as full and equal citizens. Civil society has the potential to alter this hegemonic common sense, creating and sustaining democratic spaces where excluded groups participate in rational discourse on equal terms. But not all groups acting within Brazilian civil society are alike. To be able to differentiate, I argue that for a civil society group truly to contribute to the proliferation and institutionalization of democratic spaces, it must have a democratic "praxis," which refers to pursuing democratic goals through democratic means. Analyzing the historical development of Brazilian civil society, I find that Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have gained more space and visibility within Brazilian civil society, replacing older, more traditional forms of civic organizing. Comparing NGOs in Salvador, Brazil, with local neighborhood associations, I find that most NGOs in fact do not follow such democratic means, and therefore they reproduce racialized exclusions. At the same time, the characteristics of local politics and power structures have forced independent neighborhood associations into opposition to the state. Comparing Bahian NGOs with neighborhood associations points to the importance of maintaining political and economic independence from states and international donors in order to be able to pursue counterhegemonic goals and to maintain internal democracy of collective decision-making. The perpetuation of traditional power-politics, rooted in cacique-style strongmen that still dominate Bahian state and local politics, has restricted civil society's options and hindered a fruitful cooperation with the state. The concentration of political and economic power in the hands of these traditional elites points to the importance of including the analysis of how power is accumulated and distributed into the framework for understanding Brazilian civil society and its relation to the state.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
