Conjuntura Austral

Book Review

2025-01-09T18:08:32-03:00

In ‘Operação Impeachment: Dilma Rousseff e o Brasil da Lava Jato’, Fernando Limongi analyses the political-institutional and social crises that led to the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff (2011-2016) and the emergence of the coalition of power that comprised Michel Temer's government (2016-2018). The author traces the processes from Rousseff's candidacy in 2010 to the corruption allegations against Temer, who took over the presidency after the impeachment in May 2016. The use of secondary sources plays the role of describing, linking and analysing the events central to the impeachment narrative and the situation following Rousseff's impeachment. The facts are narrated in five main chapters, dividing them between the central players in the impeachment narrative: President Dilma Rousseff, the opposition coordinated by the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) and the social movements, the president of the Chamber of Deputies Eduardo Cunha, President Michel Temer and the judges who led Operation Car Wash from Brasilia to Curitiba.

O Segundo Círculo

2025-02-27T14:16:24-03:00

O Segundo Círculo: Centro e Periferia em Tempos de Guerra (Unicamp Publisher, 2024), organized by André Singer, Bernardo Ricupero, Cícero Araújo, and Fernando Rugitsky, addresses the impasses of capitalism and democracy from a perspective that intertwines global crises and peripheral dynamics. The first part, “Times of War,” examines the escalation of global instability since 2008, exploring the rise of the far right, the disputes between the United States and China, and the contradictions of the Biden Plan. The second part, “Latin American Perspectives,” discusses industrialization in South America, extractivism, and the Pink Tide, analyzing how the commodities supercycle enabled progressive governments while simultaneously fostering a contra-dictory economic model. The final part, “Critical Thought,” revisits and updates Latin American theoretical elaborations on dependency, neoliberal he-gemony, and class struggle. Despite the fluidity of international reconfigurations, the book constructs an analytical framework capable of shedding light on the multifactorial nature of the contemporary crisis, articulating transformations in the international system, mutations of capitalism, and the grow-ing threats to democracy.

Olavo de Carvalho e os BRICS

2024-11-30T20:02:03-03:00

The issue is how Olavo de Carvalho perceives the rise of BRICS, analyzing his narrative about this new pole of geopolitical power
 and a project to build a New World Order through the methodology of symptomatic reading, which seeks to discern the unrecognized bias
 in the official text, through its ruptures, gaps and lapses, making it possible to grasp the intentions of the Olavist discourse, bringing
 to light its true meaning. The sources analyzed are articles and videos by Carvalho produced in the first two decades of the 2000s,
 in the context of the creation of the BRICS and the rise of PT governments to power. The elements of his narrative are: the association
 of BRICS with the construction of a communist world order; the role of PT governments in this process; and the conjunction between Chinese 
Russian bloc and Western globalist elites. The conclusion: there is an anachronistic anti-communist conspiracism in the narrative
 and discursive strategies centered on the omission of data from reality, the decontextualization of historical facts and the distortion of
 the concepts of communism and capitalism, creating a negative imaginary of the US's geopolitical adversaries, sharing elements of
 American neoconservative thought.

Trauma healing interventions and peacebuilding

2025-01-27T09:25:34-03:00

This article analyzed trauma healing interventions in post-conflict peacebuilding. After a conflict or a genocide, an individual who experienced a violent event could become traumatized. When trauma affects simultaneously several people, collective trauma is originated. This unhealed trauma may result in psychological disorders. To illustrate this scenario, Rwanda was chosen as the case study; in 1994, a genocide happened in the country, and 30 years later, this violent incident still negatively affects its citizens. The aim of this research was to investigate trauma healing and reconciliation programs in Rwanda, to demonstrate their importance for the society and the peacebuilding. It is relevant because these processes ensure the non-recurrence of violence and the consolidation of sustainable peace, as seen in the trauma literature. Through an analytical framework and a qualitative research method two societal healing projects were analyzed: one by the Rwandan NGO Never Again Rwanda, and another by the American NGO Karuna Center for Peacebuilding. As a final result, these interventions helped to mitigate the impact of trauma on the citizens and strengthened reconciliation through collective initiatives. Demonstrating the importance and effectiveness of trauma healing interventions.

The use of cluster bombs in the war in Ukraine

2025-01-15T14:39:58-03:00

The article focuses on the U.S. government's decision to supply cluster bombs to Ukraine amidst the conflict with Russia. The measure sparked controversy due to the risk these weapons pose to civilians and the stigmatization of this type of armament following the creation of the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions. This article analyzes the ethical and moral issues concerning the nature and use of cluster bombs, explores the U.S. stance on this weaponry, and discusses the internal legitimization process of the decision in the U.S. The research draws on relevant academic studies on morality and the technological design of weapons, various positions of analysts and U.S. congress members, the analysis of U.S. domestic legal frameworks, and the literature on the legitimacy and legitimization of political actions. We conclude that the Biden administration’s decision was facilitated by the convergence of four main factors: it was morally disregarded and justified as militarily necessary, legally authorized, and politically legitimized.

Lula III

2024-11-19T09:58:42-03:00

This article analyzes how the Lula III administration has sought to realign Brazilian foreign policy with the defense of human rights and the principles of the 1988 Constitution, following the setbacks caused by the Bolsonaro government. Using the Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) framework, the study examines the trajectory of Brazilian diplomacy since democratization, highlighting the role of human rights as a soft power element. The text discusses the rupture that occurred during the Bolsonaro administration, characterized by the prioritization of nationalist and conservative interests, and contrasts it with the Lula III government's efforts to restore multilateralism and promote progressive agendas. Despite internal challenges, such as political polarization and the rise of the far-right, as well as global geopolitical tensions, the research explores the strategies adopted to reposition Brazil on the international stage. Through a review of the literature, document analysis, and journalistic sources, the study seeks to understand the advancements and challenges of current Brazilian foreign policy in the field of human rights. The aim is to identify theoretical and empirical elements through these sources that, when analyzed together, highlight the measures effectively implemented and the contextual challenges faced by this new Lula administration.

China in Guyana

2025-01-27T09:25:01-03:00

This article aims to elucidate China's geoeconomic interests in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), focusing on China's activities in Guyana. Despite its strong trade union tradition and anti-imperialist aspirations, Guyana has remained dependent and susceptible to external interests even after its late independence in 1966. The discovery of oil reserves in the Essequibo region by a Sino-American consortium in 2015 exacerbated the dispute with Venezuela and highlighted China's interests in the region. Analyses concerning Guyana are scarce, and studies on China's presence in LAC tend to focus on the substitution of the United States by the Asian power. This article seeks to address this gap and present a perspective contrary to the idea of hegemonic substitution. The analysis is conducted through bibliographic review and data collection from sources such as AidData, the American Enterprise Institute, the IMF, SIPRI, and Trade Map. It argues that the financial symbiosis between Western and Chinese companies in Guyana refutes the zero-sum geoeconomic competition narrative between the United States and China, demonstrating a positive-sum geoeconomic game in the South American country.