Democracy and Acts of Citizenship in Brazilian and Colombian Cultural Production
Location
Bobo Room, Hodgin Hall, Third Floor
Start Date
8-11-2017 9:00 AM
End Date
8-11-2017 10:00 AM
Abstract
Democracy and Acts of Citizenship in Brazilian and Colombian Cultural Production Colombia and Brazil are two countries that began a “new” era of democratization in the 1990s. After the 1964-85 dictatorship Brazil promulgated a new Constitution (1988) and Colombia did the same in 1991. However, these two moments did not bring a lasting or true political consensus, active political participation or political inclusion of citizens. One of the reasons for this lack of representativeness or “low level democracy” is that many Colombians and Brazilians are not citizens in a substantive sense. Political and social events in both countries limited the possibilities of expanding the current model of liberal democracy so as to generate more participatory practices. With these scenarios in mind, I ask how some recent cultural productions in Colombia and Brazil propose ways to expand democracy through the representation of either individual or collective acts of citizenship. These acts are particularly relevant in a conjecture where the discourse of rights has been centralized. Through the analysis of how Colombian and Brazilian democracies are represented in film and literature, as well as how they are called into question, I inquire whether cultural production can shape social and political perceptions. I argue that these cultural representations highlight and subvert commonplaces of the relationship between the individual and the state. Among the works I analyze are the novel La rebelión de los oficios inútiles (Rebellion of Useless Labors Colombia, 2015) and the movie Aquarius (Brazil, 2016). These literary and filmic works propose readings such as the demand for land (La rebelión de los oficios inútiles) and the individualist act of resistance against neoliberal state policies (Aquarius). As such, these cultural products reveal social and subjective aspects that shape both individual and collective understanding of what it means to be a citizen. In this respect, culture plays a pivotal role not only in portraying the current social and political context, but also in revealing alternatives and limits of political action that might lead to more inclusive democratic practices.
Democracy and Acts of Citizenship in Brazilian and Colombian Cultural Production
Bobo Room, Hodgin Hall, Third Floor
Democracy and Acts of Citizenship in Brazilian and Colombian Cultural Production Colombia and Brazil are two countries that began a “new” era of democratization in the 1990s. After the 1964-85 dictatorship Brazil promulgated a new Constitution (1988) and Colombia did the same in 1991. However, these two moments did not bring a lasting or true political consensus, active political participation or political inclusion of citizens. One of the reasons for this lack of representativeness or “low level democracy” is that many Colombians and Brazilians are not citizens in a substantive sense. Political and social events in both countries limited the possibilities of expanding the current model of liberal democracy so as to generate more participatory practices. With these scenarios in mind, I ask how some recent cultural productions in Colombia and Brazil propose ways to expand democracy through the representation of either individual or collective acts of citizenship. These acts are particularly relevant in a conjecture where the discourse of rights has been centralized. Through the analysis of how Colombian and Brazilian democracies are represented in film and literature, as well as how they are called into question, I inquire whether cultural production can shape social and political perceptions. I argue that these cultural representations highlight and subvert commonplaces of the relationship between the individual and the state. Among the works I analyze are the novel La rebelión de los oficios inútiles (Rebellion of Useless Labors Colombia, 2015) and the movie Aquarius (Brazil, 2016). These literary and filmic works propose readings such as the demand for land (La rebelión de los oficios inútiles) and the individualist act of resistance against neoliberal state policies (Aquarius). As such, these cultural products reveal social and subjective aspects that shape both individual and collective understanding of what it means to be a citizen. In this respect, culture plays a pivotal role not only in portraying the current social and political context, but also in revealing alternatives and limits of political action that might lead to more inclusive democratic practices.
