And Now.... BRAZIL
Teacher Page

WHY BRAZIL?
With a GDP surpassing Canada’s and Mexico’s, Brazil is now churning out the second largest economy in the Western Hemisphere. Energized by political and economic reforms in its 1988 constitution (the eighth since independence from Portugal in 1822), Brazil is playing a new role in South America, the Western Hemisphere, and the world at large. Its goals and policies will surely influence your students’ future and should, therefore, be the focus of their studies now.

CURRICULUM STANDARDS
This unit should help you to address several goals in social studies curriculums for Grades 9-12. Here are three possibilities — the first, from Expectations of Excellence (EOE) by the National Council for the Social Studies; the second, from the National Standards for History (NSH); and the third, from the National Geography Standards (NGS). Students using this unit should be better able to:

  • "analyze the relationships ... between national sovereignty and global interests, in matters such as ... economic development, ... use of natural resources, and human rights concerns." — "Global Connections" (EOE)
    •
  • "analyze connections between globalizing trends in economy, technology, and culture in the late 20th century [on the one hand] and dynamic assertions of traditional cultural identity and distinctiveness [on the other]." — "Era 9," Standard 3 (NSH)
    •
  • "evaluate the limitations of the physical environment’s capacity to absorb the impacts of human activity." — Standard 14A (NGS)

CRITICAL TERM
Recognizing various uses of the term "region" is critical to understanding this unit. On the Brazil Map Page, the term indicates Brazil’s geographic regions. As in the USA, each such region includes several states (not shown on the map). A second usage occurs on the Student Text Page, in a reference to the rainforest region, considered as an economic and ecological entity. (Think of the Great Lakes region in the USA.) And, in a third usage, on the same page, "Regional power" embraces the geopolitical region within which Brazil is located and out of which free-trade agreements with neighbors are emerging.

FOUR BIG QUESTIONS
The questions at the top of the Student Text Page are meant to help students focus their attention on the unit and then launch their own research. Here’s a review of those questions:

1.    "... 'A developed nation, still developing'?" The phrasing cited in the first question is from a 1994 address by Brazil's (then) president-elect Fernando Cardoso. It refers to the paradox presented by a modern nation that ranks among the top 10 GDP producers in the world, yet is still home to some of its poorest citizens. The problem is certainly not a lack of human assets or raw materials. (See, for example, the excellent overview of Brazil's economic potential in the U.S. State Department's June 2003 "Background Note: Brazil.") Rather, it is an unresolved debate over land- and income-distribution. (See Jon Jeter's article, "Brazil's Land Rush Leads to Standoff," in the September 5, 2003 issue of The Washington Post.) From the "Big Assets" segment on the Student Text Page and the chart on the Brazil Data Page, students should be able to infer that Brazil is a highly developed nation. (Its role in the Southern Common Market implies that, too.) But the "Big Challenges" section of the article should also remind them that Brazil still has vast resources to develop — and more to do, to help its people realize their aspirations.

2.    "What challenges is Brazil taking on?" As the third segment of the student article indicates, conflicts of interest in the rainforest form one challenge that Brazil has recently addressed. You may want to tell students the context for some others: Centuries-old patterns of land distribution still leave millions of Brazilians without acreage of their own — a phenomenon that drove millions into the nation’s coastal cities after World War II. When sheer numbers defeated these cities’ ability to provide housing and education for all, children drifted into the workplace, to help their families cope (especially as inflation soared). The protectionist measures of earlier governments were also a problem, since they prevented economic diversity and growth. That’s all changed, now. Brazil is no longer a "one-product" economy, as it was for all those centuries when gold, sugar, coffee, and rubber — in turn — dominated its exports.

3.    "Value of free-trade agreements?" NAFTA has been hotly debated in the USA. But from Brazil’s viewpoint, the advantages of regional trade arrangements are clear: (1) increased commerce among neighbors who reduce mutual trade barriers; and (2) enticements for global dealers who like having only one set of trade regulations to face when they do business with trade-pact nations. You might tell students that MERCOSUL is the acronym for Mercado Comum do Sul, as the Southern Common Market is known among Portuguese-speaking Brazilians. But students who research this customs union are likely to find it listed as MERCOSUR, acronym for Mercado Comun del Sur, the group’s name in Spanish.

4.    "Brazil in the 21st century...." Brazil has had an important role in world affairs for some time. The only South American nation to join the Allies in both world wars, it is now a charter member of the UN, where it held a two-year Security Council seat at the end of the 1990s. In 1986 it introduced a proposal before the UN General Assembly for a "Zone of Peace and Cooperation," embracing nations on both sides of the South Atlantic. And recently, it signed a full-scale nuclear safeguard agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil's new head of government since January 2003, the country's role in world affairs promises to expand even further. Addressing the UN's General Assembly on September 23, 2003, President Lula presented his vision of a world in which the improvement and strengthening of the UN and other multilateral institutions would be an imperative — as would the eradication of world hunger, a goal the president has set for his own nation, through his "Zero Hunger" program. President Lula's address to the General Assembly includes several observations (on these and other topics) that might be useful discussion-starters for Current Issues or World History classes. One example: "It is time to call peace by its true name: social justice."

MORE SOURCES
Internetters! Additional information on the topics in this unit can be found at the Web Site maintained by the Embassy of Brazil. You might also have students check The Washington Post, on-line, for ongoing news of Brazil. (When the page opens, enter "Brazil" in the search box, and follow the links.)

LE recommends these items, too:

"Brazil." World Factbook. CIA annual.

Forero, Juan. "Brazil Pushes for South American Trade Pact." The New York Times. September 17, 2003. PW01.

Geipel, John. "Brazil's African Legacy." History Today. August 1997.

Jeter, Jon. "Brazil's Land Rush Leads to Standoff." The Washington Post. September 5, 2003. PA12.

Rohter, Larry. "Amazon Indians Honor an Intrepid Spirit." The New York Times. July 26, 2003. PA01. (Born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1915, Orlando Villas Bôas dedicated his life to the protection of his country's native peoples. An inspiring account.)

Schemo, Diana. "A Brazilian Wetland." The New York Times Magazine. March 2, 1997. Page S22.

Brazil Student Text Page | Brazil Map Page | Brazil Data Page

Would you like to see other pages in this study unit? Or visit LE's Home Page?

© Learning Enrichment, Inc. Content last updated: October 2003. Page last reviewed: October 2003.