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Public Lecture Series "Brazil. Land of the Future or the Past"
In 1941, while in exile in Brazil, Stefan Zweig wrote the book "Brazil. A Land of the Future. The title of the book was considered an epithet for the country in Brazil for decades. This was justified because, despite massive problems, the population always radiated hope - that is, future - to foreign visitors. Brazilians often added the melancholy-ironic phrase ... a future we will never reach.
Then the improbable happened. With the election of leftist candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as president, who took office on Jan. 1, 2003, Brazil had achieved its future. The first years of his government were marked by a broad social awakening and shaping of the future. Disillusionment set in. Brazil is currently ruled by a right-wing president. There is little sign of awakening and hope. His re-election would make Brazil a country of the past. But what could be the future?
Brazil today is a deeply divided country. The question of whether it is still a country of the future or of the past will be examined by the speakers from different angles.
Participation is available for a maximum of 100 people in attendance or you can register to participate online by zooming in to Ms. Klein: p.klein[at]uni-kassel[dot]de
Lecture on June 2, 2022:
Clarita Müller-Plantenberg: What do the indigenous people still want?
Indigenous people in Brazil have had successes and at the same time are still threatened today. From the beginning of the conquest, their numbers dropped from about five million to less than 200,000 in the 1960s. Direct and indirect genocides against these oldest inhabitants of present-day Brazil were stopped in the years that followed. Many of the approximately 300 indigenous peoples experienced a demographic recovery. The last census in 2010 counted just under 900,000. In addition, especially in Amazonia, many indigenous territories have been designated, which today cover approximately one million square kilometers. Currently, however, the government is attempting, through various legislative initiatives, to allow economic exploitation and thus intrusion into the territories once again.
In this difficult historical phase, Clarita Müller-Plantenberg will try to answer the question of what the indigenous people still want and what their future prospects might be. The sociology professor taught at the University of Kassel from 1981 to 2009. One of her main areas of research was the Amazon region and the indigenous peoples of Brazil. She is still a committed defender of indigenous rights and returns to her old place of work with this lecture.