Brazil's rise: Inequality, culture and globalization

This paper argues that the manifold patterns of globalization in relation to inequality can give rise to both the emergence of economic powers (again) rooted in widespread or deep social inequalities and to transversal forces—that cut across social domains (such as the economy, politics or cultural life), national borders, and social groups or classes—seeking to reinforce or to overturn those inequalities. These rising global players both represent particular historical courses toward modernity and capitalism and express in their contradictory outlook the very trends informing hegemonic globalization. These societies are fundamentally split in terms of a global/local economic and socio-cultural dynamics, which at once positions them in favor of integration and resists several of its instantiations. This further sets off a political dispute over the meaning and impact of globalization, which raises an awareness of cultural particularity and also prompts moves toward global articulations as a means to tackle inequality. The Brazilian case is offered as an example of this process: inequality lies at the root of its capitalist modernization, strongly connected to the legacy of slavery, and the recent juncture of globalization has both deepened inequality and opened a chance of fighting it.