The Practice of Politics in Postcolonial Brazil: Porto Allegre, 1845-1895 (Pitt Latin American Series)

The Practice of Politics in Postcolonial Brazil traces the history of high and low politics in nineteenth-century Brazil from the vantage point of the provincial capital of Porto Alegre. In the immediate postcolonial period, new ideas about citizenship and freedom were developing, and elites struggled for control of the state as the lower classes sought inclusion in political life. In a shift from the Liberal Party to Positivist or Conservative rule during the bloody Federalist Revolt of 1893-1895, new leaders sought to bring about a more balanced structure of government where the capitalist was sympathetic to the worker, and the worker more passive toward the elite. This represented a complete change of opinions--a new regime of ideas. Termed a "scientific" approach by its proponents, the movement was based on historical process and would be brought about through civic education. Against the backdrop of the abolition of slavery and subsequent assimilation, the rise of European immigration, and industrialization, Kittleson investigates how "the people" shaped changing political ideologies and practices, and how through local struggles and changes in elite ideology, the lower classes in Porto Alegre won limited political inclusion that was denied elsewhere. The Practice of Politics in Postcolonial Brazil traces the history of high and low politics in nineteenth-century Brazil from the vantage point of the provincial capital of Porto Alegre. In the immediate postcolonial period, new ideas about citizenship and freedom were developing, and elites struggled for control of the state as the lower classes sought inclusion in political life. The emergent Liberal Party, while initially successful in dismantling Portuguese trade restrictions, later came to be viewed as an elitist group that staved off threats to the systems of slavery, patronage, and the class hierarchy.In a shift from the Liberal Party to Positivist or Conservative rule during the bloody Federalist Revolt of 1893-1895, new leaders sought to bring about a more balanced structure of government where the capitalist was sympathetic to the worker and the worker more passive toward the elite. This represented a complete change of opinions-a new regime of ideas. Termed a "scientific" approach by its proponents, the movement was based on historical process and would be brought about through civic education.Against the backdrop of the abolition of slavery and subsequent assimilation, the rise of European immigration, and industrialization, Roger A. Kittleson investigates how, during a critical period in Brazilian history, "the people" shaped changing political ideologies and practices, and through local struggles and changes in elite ideology, the lower classes in Porto Alegre won limited political inclusion that was denied elsewhere. "The Practice of Politics in Postcolonial Brazil traces the history of high and low politics in nineteenth-century Brazil from the vantage point of the provincial capital of Porto Alegre. In the immediate postcolonial period, new ideas about citizenship and freedom were developing, and elites struggled for control of the state as the lower classes sought inclusion in political life. The emergent Liberal Party, while initially successful in dismantling Portuguese trade restrictions, later came to be viewed as an elitist group that staved off threats to the systems of slavery, patronage, and the class hierarchy."--Jacket Introduction "Our compatriots are vagrants" : work, morality, and the shaping of a new povo, 1845-1880 The immigrant solution and its problems, 1846-1880 The politics of everyday life in the city Blurring the lines of public politics : abolitionist projects, 1879-1888 "A strange vision of popular movement" : the emergence and limits of a new politics Conclusion.