André Rebouças: terra, trabalho e reforma social no Brasil Império

Abstract

This dissertation aims to analyze André Rebouças’s reformist thought against the backdrop of the context in which such thought was formulated, i.e., the conditions of its formulation. The starting point is research on the Empire in Brazil, with special attention to its political functioning, the land issue, and the dynamics of labor, attempting to clarify the environment — or the “space of experience” — in which Rebouças' political action developed. The social reform sought by Rebouças depended on a strategy of persuasion and propaganda, primarily through articles in periodicals. The second and third chapters are dedicated, therefore, to an analysis of articles that are believed to represent the core of his fight for reforms and consequently, his social thought. The second chapter focuses on the book Agricultura Nacional: Estudos Econômicos, and analyzes his project of agricultural centralization — based on liberal reformism. The third chapter is devoted to a series of articles published in late 1880 in the newspaper Gazeta da Tarde and two other articles, Abolição da Miseria and Imposto Territorial, published between 1888 and 1889 in the Revista de Engenharia — from these articles, the anti-aristocratic aspect of Rebouças' proposed reforms and his vision of land as an instrument of emancipation are addressed. The dissertation concludes with a final chapter presenting concluding remarks.