THE STRUCTURE OF THE BRAZILIAN FAMILY.

Students of the Brazilian family are very likely to be impressed by a rather unusual flair, which some sociologists have shown for historical reconstructions. As seen in retrospect, especially against the colonial background, the family stands out sharply as a patriarchal, extended, and essentially rural structure of towering dominance. This picture still holds it own during the first half of the nineteenth century, yet becomes somewhat indistinct at the time of the grandfathers and gradually fades away as one approaches the present time. This means that the object of much historical research, the patriarchal family of the landed aristocracy, vanished, but the sociologists' interest in its succeeding forms as well. The Brazilian system, as that of Latin America in general, is largely family-ridden. There is probably not a single major institution in Brazil, which is not to a considerable extent controlled or deflected by family interests. It is true that in areas of heavy foreign immigration, the position of family oligarchies was not strong enough to prevent the rise of a new economic and political elite, but it also is true that the new elite has adopted the same patterns of familism and nepotism which characterized the traditional power structure.