Working groups list: Social Democratic Governance in Brazil

Social Democratic Governance in Brazil

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Formed in June 2003. Over the summer of 2003, one of the founding members was in Brazil, conducting qualitative research on the new government and the electorate’s reactions, expectations, and concerns, compiling a questionnaire in order to get a lot of this information and interviewing hundreds of Brazilians on their thoughts and feelings towards social change and development, and the prospects for such desired change with their new leftist Worker Party leader Lula da Silva as president. Using the APIRG video camera, many interviews with municipal, state and federal politicians, activists, and Brazilians in general were filmed, with the goal to produce a short documentary film on the research by fall 2004.

Three other members are working on projects:

  • Writing a paper about the popular cultural influence of music in Brazil’s change in government with Lula. In the compilation of her analysis she is using the political music bought in Brazil.
  • Preparing a website to make the research materials and resources easily available on-line.
  • Writing about his experience while in Brazil during the election of Lula, and an update as to how things have changed for better or worse in the Amazonian community he was living in at that time.

Accomplishments and events: several articles written by founding member about the research project, which have been published in Building Bridges—the newsletter of Change for Children, the newsletter of Alberta Council for Global Cooperation newsletter, The Annual New Democratic Youth of Canada’s magazine, and The Catalyst— the New Democratic Youth of Alberta’s newsletter, and there was a short blurb about the project in VUE weekly’s magazine as part of an advertisement for the Alberta Social Forum where members facilitated a 1.5 hour discussion on the research compiled in Brazil. January 8th, 2004 presentation at Change for Children on the new political developments in Brazil and showing some edited filming.