Autos and Progress by Joel Wolfe
Autos and Progress reinterprets twentieth-century Brazilian history through automobiles, using them as a window for understanding the nation's struggle for modernity in the face of its massive geographical size, weak central government, and dependence on agricultural exports. Among the topics Wolfe touches upon are the first sports cars and elite consumerism; intellectuals' embrace of cars as the key for transformation and unification of Brazil; Henry Ford's building of a company town in the Brazilian jungle; the creation of a transportation infrastructure; democratization and consumer culture; auto workers and their creation of a national political party; and the economic and environmental impact of autos on Brazil. This focus on Brazilians' fascination with automobiles and their reliance on auto production and consumption as keys to their economic and social transformation, explains how Brazil--which enshrined its belief in science and technology in its national slogan of Order and Progress--has differentiated itself from other Latin American nations. Autos and Progress engages key issues in Brazil around the meaning and role of race in society and also addresses several classic debates in Brazilian studies about the nature of Brazil's great size and diversity and how they shaped state-making.
Convincingly demonstrates an extraordinary range of cultural, social, political, and economic influences that increasing 'automobility' had on Brazilian society* American Historical Review *
Autos and Progress casts new light on an old subject - Brazil's struggle to become a modern nation. Joel Wolfe wonderfully blends the history of technology, business, consumer culture, and politics to show how the automobile and trucks played a central role in the integration and creation of the Brazilian nation. His book is a major contribution to Brazilian and Latin American history. * Marshall C. Eakin, Vanderbilt University *
Autos and Progress provides an important new way to understand the Brazilian obsession with modernity. Joel Wolfe shows how Brazilians linked technology and consumerism by investigating a wide range of topics relating to automobilism, including the relationship between Formula 1 racing and nation-building and the connection between auto workers and democracy. Autos and Progress teaches us that motorized vehicles were more than tools for creating a modern state; they were important cultural symbols of twentieth century Brazilian national identity. * Jeffrey Lesser, Emory University *
Autos and Progress casts new light on an old subject - Brazil's struggle to become a modern nation. Joel Wolfe wonderfully blends the history of technology, business, consumer culture, and politics to show how the automobile and trucks played a central role in the integration and creation of the Brazilian nation. His book is a major contribution to Brazilian and Latin American history. * Marshall C. Eakin, Vanderbilt University *
Autos and Progress provides an important new way to understand the Brazilian obsession with modernity. Joel Wolfe shows how Brazilians linked technology and consumerism by investigating a wide range of topics relating to automobilism, including the relationship between Formula 1 racing and nation-building and the connection between auto workers and democracy. Autos and Progress teaches us that motorized vehicles were more than tools for creating a modern state; they were important cultural symbols of twentieth century Brazilian national identity. * Jeffrey Lesser, Emory University *
Joel Wolfe is Associate Professor of History at University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is the author of Working Women, Working Men: Sao Paulo and the Rise of Brazil's Industrial Working Class, 1900-1955 (Duke UP, 1993).
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780195174564 |
| ISBN 10 | 0195174569 |
| Title | Autos and Progress |
| Author | Joel Wolfe |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press Inc |
| Year published | 2010-02-04 |
| Number of pages | 288 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |