Year: 1978
Type: article
Abstract: R ECENT studies of twentieth-century Latin American society have found a surprising convergence in political attitudes between big businessmen and landowners. This is especially true for Brazil. Brazil's business elite has never challenged the political power of the traditional landowning elite or the patriarchal framework in which politics traditionally has been practiced.There has been no conflict between the two elites, such as characterized the development of industrial capitalism in Europe during the middle of the last century.2 Various reasons have been advanced for this convergence in political outlook; however, it should be noted that the phenomenon is not new. It dates back at least to the nineteenth century, when Brazil fully entered world trade patterns as an exporter of tropical products. Nineteenth-century Brazilian largescale businessmen and landholders evidence, if anything, stronger feelings of political solidarity and economic identity than do their modern counterparts. Big businessmen not only supported the interests of landholders, they even took the initiative in defending them. This tradition of solidarity between business and landholding elites
Author: Eugene W. Ridings
Language: English
Subfield: Demography
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2321893160