Orpheus and Power

From recent data on disparities between Brazilian whites and non-whites in areas of health, education, and welfare, it is clear that vast racial inequalities do exist in Brazil, contrary to earlier assertions in race-relations scholarship that the country is a racial democracy. Here Michael George Hanchard explores the implications of this increasingly evident racial inequality, highlighting Afro- Brazilian attempts at mobilizing for civil rights and the powerful efforts of white elites to neutralize such attempts. He presents a wealth of empirical evidence comparing Afro-Brazilian militants' effectiveness with that of their counterparts in sub-Saharan Africa, the United States, and the Caribbean in the postDLWorld War II period. Hanchard offers a host of imaginative theoretical possibilities that brings a new and welcome vigor to Afro- Brazilian studies. DLKim D. Butler, The Journal of Interdisciplinary History A book rich in insight and full of striking detail.... Advocacy enlivens the book and makes it all the more important to both the specialist and to the general or classroom reader. DLRichard Graham, American Journal of Sociology Hanchard's book constitutes an important contribution to the literature on Brazilian black organizations, notably through its interview-based account of the emergence of the [Movimento Negro], and the attempt to extend or complement the structuralist approach by highlighting cultural and ideological factors. DLWilliam Assies, European Review of Latin American and Caribbean StudiesMichael George Hanchard is the author of 'Orpheus and Power', published 1994 under ISBN 9780691032924 and ISBN 0691032920.