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This paper aims to analyze the behavior of a group of industrial multinational subsidiaries located in Brazil in the period 2003-2019. In this context, their surplus increased substantially because of the rise in commodity prices. For this reason, we intend to analyze the destination of the surplus towards non-productive uses. The methodology used incorporated accounting data that were processed to construct useful variables within the disciplinary framework of political economy and economics for economic development. Through this, it was possible to measure the capital flight and financial investments of the selected companies. This paper ties in with the debate on financialization, global productive changes and the forms these phenomena take in developing countries. Despite the surplus increase, the selected firms lost productive density because they promoted non-productive uses, in a general context of the Brazilian economy characterized by financialization and deindustrialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to explain the Bolsa Familia Plan and interpret its meaning in Brazilian capitalism. First, it maintains that its emergence was result of the pauperism associated with the increase of the overpopulation, the incremental adjustment with respect to the trajectory of the Brazilian assistance policy and of the internationalization of that policy. Second, it argues that its deployment was explained by the succession of its incremental adjustments from the trial-and-error process, and by its own internationalization. Third, it maintains that, as a result of his deployment, the program modified his initial management mode, which was expressed at a higher level of institutionality, massiveness and technification, which in turn resulted in his greater legitimacy and political gravitation. The PBF strengthened the capacity of the Brazilian state to articulate consensual domination and, with it, to mediate the subordination of labor to capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its appearance in 2020, Brazil and Mexico have been among the most affected countries in the world by covid-19. Their respective presidents, Jair Bolsonaro and Andrés Manuel López Obrador (known as AMLO), have played a leading role in specific policies during the pandemic. Their choices were both singular and counter- intuitive. On the health front, AMLO initially underplayed the seriousness of the situation, and the Brazilian president, Bolsonaro, defended a frankly negationist attitude, with a dramatic balance sheet, without his popularity being seriously affected. On the economic front, they have chosen policies that contradict not only each other but also their own supposed ideological stances. Bolsonaro, who is ranked on the far right, has implemented an emergency transfer program on a scale comparable to those of developed countries and the most massive the country has ever seen. Conversely, AMLO, considered a progressist, provided just a minimum policy package, maintaining his previous electoral program. By adopting a comparative approach and mobilizing a unique and diversified set of data, the objective of this paper is to explore these apparent contradictions. After having established the precise diagnosis of the policies implemented to deal with the crisis and the economic and health situation in the two countries during the 2020-2022 period, we propose an original interpretation grid of the central role played by the two presidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on an in-depth reflection on the role of utopias in political projects that intervene in international relations, this article aims to analyse the change of direction of Brazil's foreign policy in the period 2003-2022. This involves observing the transformation of the country's international action, from a position of defender of the Global South to one of champion of the West. To this end, this proposal will make use of the information offered by primary sources --official documents and speeches of the presidency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs-- and secondary sources --analysis of academic publications--. With this in mind, it will provide an extensive theoretical introduction, through which it will genealogically address utopian thinking in the discipline of International Relations and the field of Foreign Policy Analysis. Subsequently, it will define two discursive strategies that allude to antagonistic projects of international insertion based on opposing utopian imaginaries, and which have guided the Brazilian worldview of international reality in the first two decades of the twenty-first century: the Brazil of the Global South and the Brazil of the West. By way of conclusion, the paper will offer some final reflections, highlighting the role played by both representations in Brazil's domestic and international projection for the government's term of office that started in 2023. It is understood that both worldviews have their origins in Brazil's tradition of international thought, but also incorporate variables that refer to transnational utopian projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social and solidarity economy and agroecology in family agriculture cooperatives in Brazil as a form of development of sustainable agriculture We urgently need to rethink solidarity and social economy strategies focused on endogenous development subjects and rural world. Social questions as food sovereignty, right to food, gender equality or small productions viability must be addressed and evaluated, among other reasons, because of their current importance in the political agendas of organisms such as the FAO or the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). These institutions have been warning for decades about the social and environmental need of turning the goal of food sovereignty into reality. The concept of Food Sovereignty was defined in 1996 during the FAO Summit on the Right to Food in Rome. There, the Vía Campesina movement defined Food Sovereignty as a social and political concept essential to build bridges between the agroecological and social and solidarity economy perspectives. This movement referred to the sovereignty of communities, peoples and consumers in order to decide what to eat, what to produce and how the territorial development must be according to its limitations and endogenous characteristics. This concept proposed a higher visibility for the peasant movement, taking into consideration the lack of attention paid as an intermediary agent in international forums and decision-making spaces on the World Trade Organisation or the development policies of other international institutions. the proposal of an agenda focused on concepts (endogenous development, Food Sovereignty), we need located agri-food systems which work from the logics of community economies, social-solidarity economies and caring economies. We consider that our monitoring and researching projects must reflect this need of theoretical and methodological frames. These ones combine inputs from different fields of social and environmental sustainability. Because of these reasons, this paper aims to understand how the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) as well as the Agroecology can contribute to the economic, social, ecological and political sustainability of family agriculture in Brazil. For this purpose, the dimensions and different ways for viability of selected family exploitations will be exposed. The study is about collecting how the ESS and the Agroecology dialogue on many factors related to sustainability in the production system and peasants' organisation. One of the commonest problems of many SSE experiences is how environmental protection remains at a second stage, if compared to democracy or redistribution issues. Therefore, by adopting Agroecology, the current agroecosystems artificialisation model could be changed. This system would be more suitable for social and ecological reproduction through new proposals of technical, ecological, agronomical and social production. Via this production, a sustainable management of natural resources could be achieved avoiding degradation of the environment. Another question to deal in this paper is the role developed by the short circuits of commercialisation in the promotion of agroecological strategies conceived at the same time as an answer from the perspective of social and solidarity economy. Short circuits of commercialisation are essential elements, especially for peasants and for the endogenous rural development, in order to link again production and consumption to principles of proximity, reliance, and sustainability. The adoption of short circuits as a strategy for territory sovereignty and a defence is a way of guaranteeing the economic aspects as well as the social ones in Agroecology. Our case studies are based in representative experiences of different ways of commercialisation in the Northern and Southern regions of Brazil: Associação dos Agricultores Ecologistas de Ipê y Antonio Prado (Ecologist Farmers Association of Ipê and Antonio Prado, AECIA) and the Cooperativa de Irituia (Cooperative of Irituia). The AECIA is in the Brazilian province of Rio Grande do Sul, Northeast region, in the municipalities of Antonio Prado and Ipê. These present an intermediate level of capitalisation, where the production systems integrate vegetal and animal productions, outlining the conventional and ecological fruticulture (grape, apple, peach), ecological horticulture, dairy cattle, marking livestock, pigs, birds and corn. The Cooperative of Irituia is in the Northern region of Brazil, province of Pará, municipality of Irituia, in the Northeast mesoregion. Its population mainly lives in the rural environment. Its local economy, which is based in agriculture and wood extraction and transformation, is mainly composed of family peasants that practice subsistence farming. Both belong to the tradition of family agriculture in Brazil, but they present a different approach in their ecological, community or economic perspective where they interact. Regarding the method for the case study, we have applied a qualitative approach through several social research techniques, some of them are explicative (interviews, experts panel), other are more inductive (survey based in three dimensions: Agroecology, New Commons and SSE) and other are more descriptive (secondary sources, interviews to key informers). With all this material, we have made a proposal of social-economic, social-cultural and productive sustainable indicators. In this way, we can test the sustainability approach of these initiatives in the long term. Results of the research point to the existence of differences between the analysed cooperatives regarding productive, social, political and economic viability, not only from the SSE but also the Agroecology. Because of this, the AECIA offers better values in all the studied items instead of the Cooperative of Irituia. At a theoretical level, this work demonstrates a more complex approach to the short circuits in the agri-food channels. Furthermore, from a common agroecological and SSE point of view, those are introduced as an umbrella for democratisation of our agri-food systems, meanwhile defending the right to food as well as a sustainable and healthful production suitable to the physical and cultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the content of discussions held over three seminars on the theme of the heterogeneous subfield of Social Cartography in Brazil and in Latin America. It produces a reflection that represents the issues raised by those who design, develop and participate in these cartographic experiences. It cited relevant literature, but most of the contributions presented emerged from discussions that took place during these events. The research aims to contribute to the expansion of cartographic discussion in Brazil and in Latin America, which includes different perspectives and ideas about conceptual, epistemological and methodological dimensions of mapping experiences that increasingly integrate situations of cartographic disputes that are being overlapping territorial disputes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing dispute between the United States of America and China finds a main area of competition around 5G, which will enable a substantial improvement in the capacity for vehicle auto-guidance, remote operations, robotics, artificial intelligence and other dual-use applications. While 5G is still emerging, the global shaping of the network infrastructure, regulations, patents and standards involves the Global South. It is an eminently global dispute for markets, but also for national security, which has gained a central place on the foreign policy agenda of most of the countries around the globe. In this context, the objective of this text is to analyze the emergent conditions of 5G in two of the main countries of the Global South, India and Brazil, within the dispute between the US and China. Through the contextualization of this dispute and its implications in India and Brazil, we seek to extract a series of preliminary reflections for other countries of the Global South. Thus, this paper contributes to a key area understanding the emergent conditions of a new phase of the mobile telecommunications paradigm developing two main cases still unexplored systematically by the literature in Spanish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consolidation and articulation between universities open up a privileged space for possible discussions, reflections and construction of significant proposals for academic actions to enable interdisciplinary technical-scientific work. The University Network on the Latin American Integration Route (UniRila) was created in 2016, with the purpose of developing actions that support feasibility studies for the Bioceanic Corridor between Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Chile. This paper intends to analyze the identity and cultural relationship between Porto Murtinho-Brasil and Carmelo Peralta-Paraguay with actions of UniRila perspective, emphasizing the principles and values that culture is guided by, to support a people’s cultural paradigm in their habits, beliefs, values and identities besides cultural diffusion and preservation. The research used the deductive method with a systemic scope through bibliographic and documentary surveys. Therefore, in order to better understand issues related to culture and identity processes, it is necessary to briefly note what is culture and the cultural relationships between Porto Murtinho and Carmelo Peralta as the Bioceanic Corridor is consolidated. It is inferred that the established relationship leads to the observation that the cultural intertwining will be in constant mutation or transformation as the interaction and social integration occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyse the role of supreme courts of justice in some of the recent removals from office of progressive "pink tide" Latin American presidents and governments where so-called "new right" governments have taken power. It shows the composition of the supreme courts to be a decisive factor in removing these governments from power. The core hypothesis is that the judiciary may have served as a body for legitimating interruption and dismissal processes led by the legislature in contexts of institutional paralysis (or conflict with the executive branch). To demonstrate this, the case of Brazil is analysed and specifically the role played by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) in the dismissals of Luis Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an analysis based on bibliography and empirical knowledge that trait to provide an overview of the Brazilian National Solid Waste Policy Bill text. The law was intended to sets principles, procedures and regulations to manage this type of residual materials, since the previous standards were rather poor, heterogeneous and full of regional contrasts due to the federal political and administrative structure of the country. Under such circumstances, the principal objectives of municipal, state and federal legal regulations were a lot different from each other. Besides, in the absence of a general framework, areas and territories of the country acted individually and generated their own body of principles. In this context, the Brazilian National Solid Waste Policy Bill languished in the Congress for almost 21 years, till to august 2010 was approved, and its submission was a time-consuming process that helped only to show that many complex and bureaucratic barriers needed to be removed in a country with special social, political and institutional features such as Brazil. Methodologically, the paper analyzes the previous disperse legislation and examines the new legislation on solid waste management, making further projections about the challenges derived from the enforcing process of this new law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the analysis of a specific conjuncture, "Cracolândia" in São Paulo, Brazil, and the "De Braços Abertos" program, this article discusses the complex relationships between drug use and the formulation of public policies directed to the care of users. In methodological terms, this work is based on the qualitative research by using semistructured interviews with thirteen key informants. The empirical material was analyzed from the content thematic analysis and the intersectionality perspective, especially from the theoretical contributions of the "difference" category. The results point out that "differences" are marked by gender, race and social position in the society, reinforcing stigmas and their different impacts on social relations. This paper contributes to the debate on the need to formulate different approaches to the specific needs and demands of populations or social classification categories regarding drug public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the role played by Henrique Morize in the organization of the Brazilian expedition that went to Sobral in the state of Ceará to observe the total solar eclipse of May 29, 1919. This description is justified by the emphasis given to the event by Morize himself. For the Brazilian astronomer, what really was at stake was to show that his institution could perform ordinary scientific tasks, which was not always the case with the National Observatory, since the support of the federal government was not regular. In order to support this interpretation, various documents such as letters, articles and statements from Morize and colleagues will be quoted, in particular the report on that event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we work about the sense that the concept of inclusion acquired as a guiding principle of educational policies in the context of progressive governments 2003-2010 in Argentina, Uruguay and Brasil. We describe and analyze some educational policy programs aimed at educational inclusion in those countries based on theoretical contributions and political perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hegemonic masculinity has distanced heterosexually active men from the responses to the HIV epidemic. However, with the combined prevention paradigm, postexposure prophylaxis offers new ways to manage the risks of HIV infection, while at the same time bringing about new challenges. The aim of this paper is to discuss - through the lens of gender and masculinities - how heterosexually active men perceive their HIV risk and how they manage prevention methods and strategies, including post-exposure prophylaxis. Employing qualitative methods, 16 heterosexually active men in five health services from different Brazilian cities were interviewed. The analysis indicates that condom use - the main prevention method - was conditioned by subjective and contextual factors, and its failure stands out as the primary reason for seeking out post-exposure prophylaxis. We argue that ideals of hegemonic masculinity permeate perceptions and risk management discourses in the current context of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the historical narratives of women publishers in Brazil are scarce or non-existent, our goal in this work is to record, as completely as possible, the editorial history and the work of women publishers in the country, especially in the 20th and 21st centuries, beginning with two case studies. In this paper, we present a set of relevant characters both to understand Brazilian publishing practices and to sketch the history of the occupation of public spaces by contemporary women. More in particular, we present two examples of publishing houses directed by women who work in the contemporary Brazilian literary scene: the publishers of Chão da Feira (Belo Horizonte/Lisbon/São Paulo) and Relicário (Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1974 China and Brazil began the building of a dialogue that consolidated, ever since, an important partnership for both countries, especially in areas of trade, infrastructure, finance, technology, energy and food. Such connection became closer after Brazil's inclusion as a member of BRICS, an entity formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. However, could it be said that relations were intensified from this inclusion? Giving the question, the purpose of this paper is to identify how the creation of the BRICS influenced in the relationship between China and Brazil, using a theoretical and exploratory research. Given the findings, it is understood that these diplomatic exchanges between the two states have been intensified due to interaction in the BRICS bloc, however, some warning signs are perceived about a Brazil's dependency on Chinese political and economic directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses how the theme policy of communication had treated by the Workers’ Party (PT) over the years in its government plans. The analysis comprises 25 years, between 1989 and 2014. During this period were held seven elections for the Brazilian president, and four terms were elected Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2010) and Dilma Rousseff (2011-2016). It is adopted as a methodology a documental research and content analysis of the proposals submitted by the PT candidates. The study reveals inconsistencies between party orientations in this field and government practices, as well as evidence that the PT’s commitment to regulate communication was fading with each disputed election. The party itself has recently recognized that one of the misconceptions committed during the four terms of office was not to have democratization of the media as one of the priority tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazil is a signatory to various international treaties against gender violence and has a specific law on the issue: the "Maria da Penha" Law (LMP), the tenth anniversary of the approval of which was in 2016. This law is the first systematic mechanism against gender violence in the country. This paper analyses the validity of this legislation over these ten years, studies the mechanisms created to halt domestic violence against women and assesses their effectiveness. Finally, some current challenges for the policy combating gender violence in Brazil are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of the configuration of cannibalism as a metaphor central to the development of political and artistic movements in the twentieth century of Brazil. Based on the presentation made in the "Manifesto cannibal" by Oswald de Andrade are analyzed dialogues and influences and nuances that emerged in both literary and musical performances. Also the paper highlights the role of cannibalism in the search for a national identity immersed in processes, which confronted divergent perspectives of thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to analyze 90 children's books dealing with Physical Education and Sport published in Brazil. Five study variables were established: literary genres, mediums, pagination, status as part of a collection related to sports, and the version of the publication. To develop the investigation, the technique of documentary analysis was utilized. Results: a) the literary genre "narrative" presents the biggest incidence in the children's books (with 93,33%); b) the medium "paper" is predominant in the children's books (with 90%); c) books not paginated are more frequent among the ones published in Brazil (with 73,33%); d) a little more than half of the children's books (51,11%) is part of a collection related to sports; e) there are a predominance of original children's books (with 96,67%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the results of studies about broadcasting media in Brazil, the history of the radio is divided in three phases. The first embraces the period between 1922 and 1935, that corresponds to the experimental transmission stage. The second period (1935-1955) is characterized by the consolidation of the radio as a media. The last one, the period between 1955 and 1976, reflects the lost of media space due to the television. The present paper has the main proposal to describe the development of the radio as a media in Brazil and its role as advertising in every period. This paper also explains the use of radio advertising after the 70's. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article shows the changes that have occurred in Brazil's higher education in recent decades, as policies have been implemented to expand the supply of private and public education while creating policies focused on equity. In this context, the paper analyzes geographical, racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and educational inequity based on the official data on the general population and students in private and public institutions in 2004 and 2010. Also shown are the society's inequities of income, average schooling, and race/ethnic group and their reproduction in higher education, in amplified form. The conclusion is that in spite of continued inequity, the data reveal a positive impact on equity, possibly as a consequence of the implemented policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many international analysts claimed that the Brazilian protests of June 2013 were a consequence of the country's rapid economic growth over the past few years, the rise of new middle classes, the heighten of expectations on government, the increase of citizen participation and the weakness of political institutions to handle all the above-mentioned situations. This explanation relied, explicitly or implicitly, on the modernization theory of Samuel P. Huntington, despite the fact more than forty years have gone by since the first appearance of Political order in changing societies (1968) -Huntington's most famous book on the political impacts of modernization. The purpose of this paper is to question whether Huntington's causality model actually explains the Brazilian protests. In order to do this, ethnographies of the protests that pay particular attention to their causes are contrasted with the model raised by Huntington. Based on the above, the scopes and limits of the modernization theory to explain contemporary social movements are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper two schemes of integration are analyzed in Latin America: ALBA-TCP and Unasur, both as alternatwes proposed by Venezuela and Brazil concerning about Latin-American integration. The objective is to analyze if these schemes follow the foreign policy of those countries and if they are determinant for the leadership in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper discusses the sensationalization of violence by the media as a means to increase audience ratings, citing Brazilian cases, as well as the possible roles of the media in promoting or curtailing violence. The theme of violence permeates the patterning of and the various dimensions of society, with emphasis on the media. The debate surrounding this issue assumes that the means of communication, as producers of meaning, can contribute to transform behaviors and social habits based on an approach that values equality, citizenship, freedom, and the safety of individuals. By restricting the importance and emphasis on violence as a topic, the discourse of the media may contribute towards making cultures more egalitarian in their efforts to reduce violence rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last years, Brazil has gained international visibility especially due to the capacity of its economical development and the progress of its public policies on fighting poverty. Though there reason for celebration exists with respect to the country's recent achievements, Brazil still has a lot to do if it wants to gain international prominence. In this paper we address two issues that are fundamental for Brazil to achieve real leadership: education and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ayear away from leaving the presidency, this article analyses hula government in light of the many corruption scandals that erupted afterwards. These events showed that despite the almost unanimous conclusion of its balance sheet, hula government leaves a big task ahead: the political reform. Priority of the Workers' Party during the years 1980 and 1990, and subject of many academic studies, this issue has been abandoned in the 2000s, with the accession to power of Lula Da Silva. This paper evaluates the state-of-the-art on this matter and defends the need for further consideration in light of current events, and in a broader theoretical perspective than the institutional engineering one that prevailed earlier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several countries are experiencing growth in production activities and services organized on the basis of free association and the principles of cooperation and self-management. The expansion of this field of practice has led to programs and actions to promote them as a source of income. At the same time, a number of debates have arisen with regard to their causes and their efficacy as an alternative to unemployment. Based on an exploratory study carried out through a review of pertinent literature, this paper aims to contribute to the advancement of this discussion so as then to discuss the difficulties of the 'emancipation programs' for those benefiting from the Brazilian government's Bolsa Familia Conditional Cash Transfer programs, given the natural fragility of such enterprises and the fact that most of the beneficiaries of the programs do not possess the minimum requirements to become entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper Stemodia hassleriana Chodat (Plantaginaceae) is reported for the first time for Brazil. Description, illustration, ecological observations of the species and a key to species of Stemodia presently known from Brazil are included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of management in tourism cooperatives presented in this paper uses a prospective structural analysis matrix to consider factors in the external and internal environment. The study attempts to identify variables that affect the cooperative management of tourism, using the Cooperativa Paranaense de Turismo as a case study, and contemplates both the particular and general view provided by the prospective analysis and by the professionals involved in the study. The results suggest that the cooperative studied is decisively influenced by the variables that involve the human and management aspects of the organization and by the need to work, modernize and adapt to the laws and regulations concerning this sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the advantages of emerging market multinationals. It analyzes the internationalization process of 12 Brazilian multinational firms within a historical context and identifies the comparative advantages and disadvantages. It highlights that what distinguishes the internationalization of Brazilian firms —and that characterize their way of doing things— is their management model use, which is based on a unique combination of organizational competencies and management style. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development and adoption of a national drug policy is an essential component of health policy, a critical element for effective implementation of actions that promote population health care improvement. This paper aims to contextualize the National Drug Policy adopted in Brazil, trying to collaborate in future discussions of guidelines for access to medicines. The guidelines that guide this policy are geared towards use of essential drugs, drug regulation, reorganization of pharmaceutical services, promotion of rational drugs use, scientific and technological development, promoting the production of medicines, ensure the safety, efficacy and quality of drugs and development and training of human resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly, the fictional narrative of the soap operas is inserted in a concrete social reality. The representations constructed by soap operas are associated with daily life and the social context in which they are immersed. This paper discusses the thin line between fiction and reality in soap operas and the intention of educating by dealing with real andcurrent issues. To this end two soap operas written by Manoel Carlos and produced by Rede Globo, Brazil were selected: Mujeres apasionadas (2003) y Páginas de la vida (2006). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we analyse the theoretical distortions that emerge when the Brazilian democratic construction process is analyzed utilizing exclusively the institutional approach. This approach does not explain the ambiguities between the emergence of a market economy and a passive and distrustful society of their elected officials and political institutions. In that context, adverse political conditions are produced that do not contribute for the democratic strengthening and the institutionalization of a participative political culture. The question to answer is: is it possible to develop political capacity of citizens through social capital as an alternative mechanism of citizenship? The results of the data examined in this paper are not too convincing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mattfeldanthus H. Rob. & R. M. King constitutes one of the few South American genera of Vernonieae with zygomorphic corollas. It has two species endemic to northeastern Brazil that occur in "caatinga" and "campo rupestre" vegetation. The species can be distinguished from each other by several morphological features including the shape of their involucres, capitulum number, floret size and phyllary shape. In this paper the two species of Mattfeldanthus are described and illustrated. In addition, the phylogenetic relationships of the genus to other in Vernonieae are discussed and the geographic distribution of the species is revised to include a larger area of northeastern Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schwartzia is a small genus of 17 species distributed in wet lowland forests or montane cloud forests from Costa Rica to southern Brazil, and also in the Lesser Antilles; it belongs to the Marcgraviaceae, a Neotropical family. Three species are considered in this paper for Brazil and one of these is described as a new species. The three taxa are endemic to Brazil. Each taxon is described; a key to identification of the species as well as information on distribution and ecology are also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the issue of patents in Brazil in relation to university papers on national technological process. Responsibilities of the foment's agencys and how it mediates the priorities in the publication of scientific goods; Implication of the issue on technological development in the country.