The Study of Brazil

Brazilian politics, both domestic and international, is also studied frequently, both in its own right and in comparative perspective with other countries. Since the mid-1990s the Brazilian Studies Programme has engaged in active research on the quality and sustainability of Brazil’s post-1985 democratic regime. Topics include democratic consolidation, the design of political institutions, parties and elections, and political culture and public opinion in contemporary Brazil.

Dr Timothy Power, Director of Brazilian Studies, working alongside Dr Paul Chaisty and Dr Nic Cheeseman on a comparative project, was awarded a grant by the Economic and Social Research Council to study the dynamics of executive-legislative relations in Africa, Latin America and the former Soviet Union. Brazil, a classic case of a coalitional legislature working alongside a President with strong formal powers, will be a key focus for the project.

Oxford was ranked 2nd in the world for politics and international relations by the QS World University Rankings in 2012, and is one of the world’s leading centres for graduate work and advanced research in International Relations. Oxford has a unique capacity to combine cutting-edge social science with flourishing regional and area studies expertise and a strongly global outlook.

This is particularly true of the study of Brazilian international relations, pioneered by Professor Andrew Hurrell FBA, the Montague Burton Professor of International Relations and a long-time specialist on Brazilian foreign policy. Several of Oxford’s current IR research projects have a strong Brazilian dimension, including the comparative study of regional powers (in partnership with FGV Rio and GIGA in Hamburg) and the role of emerging powers in global governance. The newly-established Rio Branco Chair in International Relations will further strengthen Oxford’s connections with the Brazilian academic and policy communities.

The study of Portuguese language at Oxford goes back to 1933, and Oxford is one of only two universities in the UK where Portuguese can be studied as an independent language. The Sub-Faculty of Portuguese has more than 50 students and has two permanent lecturerships in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies. Teaching and research interests of members of the Sub-Faculty include Linguistics, Brazilian literature of the 19th and 20th centuries, Women Writers and Brazilian cinema. The Sub-Faculty welcomes Visiting Professors nominated by the Brazilian Academy and a steady stream of Brazilian academics on sabbatical leave, with reciprocal visits by Oxford academics.

Research on Brazil at the Institute of Social & Cultural Anthropology focuses mainly on the comparative study of indigenous Amerindian societies and lifecycles, particularly through its teaching and research programme on Amazonian anthropology. In particular, current anthropological research focuses on indigenous conceptions of personhood and social identity, the interrelatedness of people and their environments, and relations between the material and social world. The Institute has recently hosted visiting scholars and students from the University of São Paulo as well as the Federal University of Santa Catarina.

The Oxford Programme for the Future of Cities is engaged in a project entitled Globalisation, Climate Change and Urban Governance: Balancing the Scales for Both Efficient and Pro-Poor Urban Futures – The Case of Brazil and the UK.

This project aims to understand the urban governance challenges arising from contemporary processes of globalisation in both Brazil and the UK. By contrasting the current UK recession with the rapid growth taking place in Brazil, the project looks at both the potential and the limitations of the two countries’ governance strategies, with respect to social inclusion, climate change and sustainability. It involves researchers from both the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes in partnership with colleagues at Federal University of ABC Region in São Paulo.  

Students, researchers and academics interested in Brazil have at their disposal an extensive range of items housed in the University’s museum and library collections.

The Taylor Institute Library is the University’s centre for the study of modern European languages and literatures. The library houses a teaching collection which includes a range of texts and a growing collection of Portuguese films. It also has a research collection of Portuguese language and Luso-Brazilian literature and has particular strengths in the medieval and contemporary periods.

For those students who do not undertake study of Brazil as part of their degree, there are non-academic opportunities to get to know the country. The Oxford University Internship Programme, launched in 2008, aims to give current Oxford students an international experience by placing them with sponsoring organisations abroad over the summer holidays.

In 2012, the programme is for the first time offering internships in Brazil. A partnership with Petra Energía in Rio de Janeiro, an Oil and Gas company that owns the largest onshore reserves in Brazil, will create up to 15 internships for Oxford students. In addition, an internship is being offered at Imaflora, focused on sustainable agriculture and conservation projects. Such opportunities will continue to grow and will give many Oxford students the chance to gain work experience in Brazil.