National violence data
Posted inSocial

National violence data

As usual, there is lots of valuable data and analysis of crime in this year’s Atlas da Violência, published by IPEA in conjunction with the Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública, with data through 2018. The report highlights that homicides have begun declining back to 2011 levels. While this is of course good news,...
October 9, 2020Posted inSocial
The High Court, embedded in Brasília
Posted inJudiciary

The High Court, embedded in Brasília

Brazil’s longest-serving justice, Celso de Mello, has announced that he will resign for health reasons on October 13. As a member of the Supreme Federal Tribunal (Supremo Tribunal Federal, STF) since 1989, Mello is often referred to as the “dean” of the Court, carrying forward traditions that in some cases predate the...
October 1, 2020Posted inJudiciary
The end of the Third Republic?
Posted inEconomics Politics

The end of the Third Republic?

Forthwith, a link to my review of eight thought-provoking new books that helped me make sense of the crazy politics of the 2010s, and especially the traumatic period between Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment and the election of Bolsonaro. It was a turbulent time, and each of the books captures different elements of the...
October 1, 2020Posted inEconomics, Politics
The maligned Washington Consensus?
Posted inEconomics

The maligned Washington Consensus?

A new article by Robin Grier and Kevin Grier on the causal effects of Washington Consensus reforms will be relevant to the seemingly never-ending Brazilian discussions between “neoliberals” and “developmentalists” regarding the best routes to economic growth.   The authors analyze the experiences of 141 countries between 1970 and 2015 which saw significant...
October 1, 2020Posted inEconomics
The horror of youth homicides
Posted inSocial

The horror of youth homicides

The post below is mirrored from our companion site, the AULABlog. It was co-authored by Beatriz Rey, a CLALS Research Fellow from Brazil and contributor to this blog. Gun-related violence against Brazilian children and teenagers has been alarmingly high for years – rising to 9,818 in 2017 and 8,253 in 2018 –...
October 1, 2020Posted inSocial
Sejam bem-vindas e bem-vindos!
Posted inInstitutional

Sejam bem-vindas e bem-vindos!

Welcome to the American University Brazil Research Initiative blog! This is a work in progress, shaped by many hands at the Brazil Research Initiative and the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies.  The blog is a collaborative effort of the faculty and fellows of the Brazil Research Initiative. We...
October 1, 2020Posted inInstitutional