Brazil: State and Nation

Abstract

The formation of Brazil is a process that reproduces several antagonisms, spread over all the aspects of social life. The dominant antagonism, settled most heavily on our history, is the one between the landowner and the labourer, who works on a land he does not own. Culture is built through appropriation and modification of the environment. The identity of a people is translated into its cultural formation. The formation of institutions is a cultural process. In Brazil, where personal relationships predominate in commandments and in political actions, the State and the Law are built not so much as reflections of the collective will, but rather as personal expressions. The Constitution of 1824 highlights the birth of the Brazilian State. The long row of Constitution confirms the Brazilian State and modifies its configuration. It also represents new positions taken by the people in the renewal of the Nation. In History, we can find the relationship between the development of the State and of the Brazilian Nation. We conclude that the influence of the Nation on the formation of the Brazilian State varies in the diverse moments of our history.