Modernising is Required. Social Thought and Change in Rural Brazil (1944-1954)

Abstract

The modernization model for Brazilian agriculture adopted after World War II was markedly influenced by the North-American Rural Expansion model, disregarding other experiences by national research institutes or propositions from important scholars at the time. In this article, we seek to debate an intellectual perspective, having authors such as Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, Carlos Schmidt Emílio Willems, Florestan Fernandes, and Antônio Cândido as our basis. By performing a historical and anthropological analysis of the first impacts of industrialization on traditional rural populations, these authors have raised questions on culture, adaptation to the environment, and the agricultural techniques in use, thus criticizing the Iberian colonial model in Brazil.