Coffee and Transformation in Sao Paulo, Brazil

By (author) Mauricio A. Font

Publication date:

09 July 2010

Length of book:

394 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

Dimensions:

239x164mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780739147504

Coffee and Transformation in São Paulo, Brazil advances a distinctive interpretation of the dynamism of the São Paulo region since the latter part of the nineteenth century. Large and entrepreneurial coffee landlords opened the frontier to the west of the state capital, playing a key role in making the state and Brazil the world's largest coffee producer for international markets. However, many of the immigrant settlers from Italy, Japan, Spain, and other countries emerged as major actors in the last phase of frontier expansion in western São Paulo. A substantial number of them found ways to become independent agriculturalists or enact new careers in commerce, industry, and services in the network of towns emerging in this region. This volume pays close attention to the political and economic implications of this region's process of segmentation and transformation, including their links to regionalism, political conflict, and the Revolution of 1930.

Chapter 1 Preface
Chapter 2 Chapter 1—Introduction
Part 3 Part I—Export Sector Organization, Contention, and Structural Change
Chapter 4 Chapter 2—Planters and Independent Agriculture
Chapter 5 Chapter 3—Elite Mobilization and Policy-Making
Chapter 6 Chapter 4—Coffee and Industrialization
Part 7 Part II—Politics: The Quest for Hegemony
Chapter 8 Chapter 5—A Changing Polity
Chapter 9 Chapter 6—From Export Sector Segmentation to Power Struggle
Chapter 10 Chapter 7—Coffee and the Revolution of 1930
Chapter 11 Chapter 8—From Contention to Revolution
Chapter 12 Chapter 9—Demise of an Old Regime
Chapter 13 Chapter 10—Epilogue: A Great Transformation in São Paulo
Chapter 14 Appendix A—Notes on Agrarian and Structural Change
Chapter 15 Appendix B—Background Notes on Political Change
Chapter 16 Bibliography and Comment

An earlier entire generation of scholars accepted the equation that during the Old Republic (1889-1930), the increasingly wealthy coffee planters of São Paulo dominated its political activities in lockstep with their financial ascendance. In his 1990 study, however, Mauricio Font (Coffee, Contention, and Change in the Making of Modern Brazil, CH, May'91, 28-5265) questioned this widely taught premise, and he demonstrated unequivocally that politics in São Paulo were decidedly not unilateral. He did so by singling out the roles of other interests, including those of factory owners and immigrants, which had consistently challenged the domination of the so-called "coffee elite." In this updated reissue of his 1990 volume, Font (sociology, Queens College, CUNY) has reprised his pioneering research while substantially adding to his database and incorporating theories of social involvement and development....Several appendixes and a new online database that present material on the shift from oligarchic to diverse political structures enhance Font's valuable thesis. Summing Up: Highly recommended.