Social Science Research Council

"Political Amnesty in Brazil, 1889-1979"

Throughout the twentieth-century in Brazil, politicians and political dissidents alike variously described amnesty as a right, a duty, and a national tradition. As such, the study of amnesty lends itself in unique ways to explaining legal, political, social, and cultural aspects about Brazil. My dissertation seeks to understand the role of political amnesty during four instances of regime change from illiberal to liberal governance during the twentieth-century in Brazil. In particular, my dissertation aims to explain a central paradox in the granting of amnesty in Brazil. That is, though amnesty formed part of democratic reform in moments of liberalization, it also appeared to serve as an intra-elite strategy to avert the deepening of any such reforms. Thus, while amnesty was democratizing, it was also undemocratic. The broader significance of analyzing amnesty relates to an understanding of the parallel traditions of accommodation and authoritarianism in Brazilian politics and an understanding of the tensions between retributive, restorative and symbolic (or historical) forms of justice. In my dissertation, I aim to write a history of citizenship in Brazil by focusing on individual actors and their motivations in relation to the granting and/or receiving of amnesty. This dissertation, therefore, deals with the history of the negotiation of political rights and democracy over time in Brazil. I am concerned with the interactions of politicians, military figures, and civilians in the events surrounding the establishment and consolidation of more liberal forms of government after episodes of authoritarian rule. In sum, I seek to understand the connections between grants of amnesty and state legitimacy, political vindication, and personal and material well-being.