A conference organised by the King's Brazil Institute
Date: Wednesday 6 and Thursday 7 April 2011
Venue: King’s College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS
In October 2010 Dilma Rousseff became the first woman to be elected President of Brazil. The chosen successor of the enormously popular President Luís Inácio “Lula” da Silva (2003-10), and the inheritor of a seemingly robust economy, President Dilma faces a number of challenges, and her inauguration on 1 January 2011 raised a number of questions about the composition and direction of her government.
For example, how much continuity will there be between the Dilma administration and President Lula’s second term (2007-10)? Will the new government consolidate a “developmentalist” agenda, and continue to reduce poverty and inequality? Can economic growth be maintained despite high interest rates and a strong real? Can President Dilma manage the coalition of ten parties supporting her government in Congress? Will she make extra efforts to promote women and address gender inequality? How will her government deal with environmental and human rights issues? Is foreign policy likely to change? How likely is political reform? Will there be new policies in the area of culture? Could the role of the military in internal politics change? Will new regulations over the media be introduced? Can President Dilma improve Brazil’s infrastructure in time for the 2014 World Cup? Are significant improvements in the quality of education possible?
This conference will address these and related questions, using the milestone of President Dilma’s first hundred days (actually her ninety-sixth and ninety-seventh days) to take stock of the new government. Participants will take note of presidential appointments, political discourse, policy changes, and continuities with the previous administration in their particular area of expertise, providing a panoramic overview of the early period of this new government at a time when Brazil is increasingly visible on the world stage.
source:kcl.ac.uk/brazil.org.uk
