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Reviewed by:
  • Collective Action and Radicalism in Brazil: Women, Urban Housing, Rural Movements
  • Cynthia S. Simmons
Collective Action and Radicalism in Brazil: Women, Urban Housing, Rural Movements. Michel Duquette, Maurilio Galdino, Charmain Levy, Bérengère Marques-Pereira, and Florence Raes . Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005. 217 pp., index. $50.00 cloth (ISBN 0-8020-3907-3).

This book represents a multi-authored work by political scientists with extensive knowledge of social movement organizations (SMOs) and political dynamics in Brazil. The overall aim of the book is to provide a comprehensive examination of the origins and evolving expressions of populist mobilization that emerged in Brazilian society beginning with the first democratic transition in the early 1930s, through to present-day incarnations of radicalism. The text focuses on three case studies, that of the women's movement, urban housing movements, and the landless movement. The underlying hypothesis, as outlined in the introductory chapter, is that the rise and expression of popular protest was defined and shaped by the interaction of (1) exogenous factors and external forces (i.e., debt crisis; IMF, World Bank, structural adjustment, and liberalization), and (2) endogenous factors intrinsic to the SMOs (i.e., origins, leadership, discourse, and participation), that changed in response to threats and opportunities afforded under the political framework of the time. Of particular importance is the rise of modern-day radicalism in Brazil, which Duquette contends is justified by the failure of the government to fulfill true social reform, a feat virtually impossible given the mounting debt crisis and the pursuit of liberalization and structural reform in the wake of democratization in the 1980s. Twenty years later, popular protest and SMOs grew in number and strength with the determination to create a "radical alternative" to the status quo perpetuating social inequalities.

"Social Movements and Radicalism: The Brazilian Context" by Duquette, provides an overview of current theoretical research into SMOs, and from this discussion he identifies the main theoretical constructs that inform the examination of radicalism and collective action in the case studies to follow. Specifically, each case study considers the hypotheses presented above, and, borrowing from Tarrow (1991) and Della Porta and Diani (1999), each examines the unfolding of "cycles of protest" encompassing the ascending, optimal, and descending phases. Also, the chapter presents a brief, yet concise, history of Brazilian politics in order to identify the opportunities that frame the emergence and development of SMOs. Duquette clearly illustrates three periods of radical mobilization that emerged in response to changing political opportunities, and he identifies key characteristics that shaped the framework of opportunity in Brazil, these include weakness of the party system, loosely defined rules and institutions, and archaic socioeconomic structures.

In "Women's Movements: From Local Action to Internationalization of the Repertoire", Marques-Pereira and Raes trace the emergence of the women's movement under the military authoritarian regime in the 1960s and its manifest incarnations with the democratic transition. Of particular interest, the women's movement found support with the military government as long as it focused on domestic demands, while other movements were brutally suppressed. With the onset of democratization, a multitude of feminist demands that had been simmering covertly emerged on the scene, and the movement became vocal advocates for ending authoritarian rule. The descending phase of the movement is marked by creation of the multiparty system, and intensification of opposition parties, into which the movement was incorporated.

Levy's "The Housing Movement in the City of São Paulo: Crisis and Revival" first provides an overview of the emergence of UPMs during the military regime, defined as the ascending phase, in response to the horrible conditions in the sprawling shantytowns in the 1970s. The main thrust of the chapter is three contemporary periods of movement [End Page 160] evolution. During the optimal phase (1982 to 1989), grassroots protest was transformed into a popular movement uniting disparate groups and forming broad-based alliances, most notably with the church and Workers Party (PT). The descending phase (1990 to 1996), ironically, began with the election of UPM leaders into public office, which forced them to switch attention from UPM demands to public interest. The final period 1997 to 2000 represents the revival...

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