Twelfth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

This paper shows how the “systemic-cycles of accumulation” proposed by Giovanni Arrighi can be combined with Celso Furtado’s historic-structural perspective and with Ignácio Rangel’s approach to understanding internal and external changes faced by Brazil throughout the period. In this way, we understand how its structures were affected by the transition from the Britannic cycle to the North Americain cycle of accumulation. Furthermore, during the period, Brazil moved from a peripherical position to a semi-peripherical position to some extent mirroring the reconfiguration of the world system and by profiting off its geographical characteristics and regional differences. The approach of the paper benefits from an intertwining of geohistory, geoeconomics, and geopolitics. Also, most of the classical analyses on the colonial period in Brazil have not fully developed the connections with World-system theory. For this period, Fernand Braudel and Caio Prado Jr. contribute to increasing our understanding of Brazilian economic and social structures in a more systemic fashion. Our paper has the following parts: 1) The structural characteristics of Brazil Colony; 2) Brazilian economy throughout the Britannic and North Americain cycles: from the periphery to an industrialized semi-periphery; and 3) The end of history or a new reconfiguration of the world-system? The rise of China. Our analysis and hypotheses show the possibility of a fruitful dialogue between Brazilian and international political economists, social scientists, and geographers sharing a historical and systemic perspective.