The Intersection of Brazil's Racial Ideology and African Foreign Policy

The Geisel Administration at the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (Festac'77)

Bibliographic Data

ID3497889
AuthorsOvini Thomas (0009-0001-3647-3067, University of Oxford, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume56
Issue3
Pages497-521
Publication date2024-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Latin American Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-216X • E-ISSN: 1469-767X
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0022216x24000555
OpenAlexW4406881605
LanguageEN
References cited9

This article examines the ways in which Brazil's African foreign policy during the Ernesto Geisel administration (1974-9) utilised notions of 'racial democracy' and the nation's Africanity in framing itself as an intrinsic partner to the continent across the Atlantic. It does this through an analysis of Brazil's involvement at the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC'77, 15 January-12 February 1977), hosted in Lagos, Nigeria. The international event celebrated past and present contributions of Black and African cultures to global civilisation. An assessment of the Brazilian government's delegation to FESTAC'77 shows how the Geisel administration attempted to depict Brazil as a harmoniously integrated society, where, through a historic process of mixing, the nation's racial identity was united into an equitable whole. In contrast, the propagation of these ideas at FESTAC'77 left the regime's racial ideology vulnerable to attack from international and domestic audiences

Administration (probate law) · African culture · Geography · Ideology · Intersection (aeronautics) · Political science · Politics · Sociology · The arts · African history and culture studies · Brazilian cultural history and politics · Brazilian History and Foreign Policy · Gender Studies

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