NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The recent presidential election in Brazil is the focus of a Vanderbilt University lead-off lecture in a series that examines Latin American politics.
University of Texas at Austin political scientist Wendy Hunter will lecture Oct. 13 on “The Brazilian Elections of 2006: Lula and the Workers‘ Party Evaluated.” Hunter, formerly of Vanderbilt, will speak from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in Buttrick Hall, Room 206. Her talk is the first in a lecture series sponsored by the Center for Latin American and Iberian Studies and the Department of Political Science at Vanderbilt. The series is titled “The Return of Democracy and the Rise of the Left: Latin American Politics at the Dawn of the 21st Century.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known to Brazilians as “Lula,” must face opposition challenger Geraldo Alckmin Oct. 29 after failing to win more than 50 percent of the votes during the Oct. 1 election. He is Brazil‘s first working-class president and promised a new form of politics that would transform his nation‘s society when he took office in 2002. Alckmin trailed the incumbent by only 7 percent.
Hunter, who is writing a book about the workers‘ party in Brazil, will provide analysis of where Lula and the political left have been and where they plan to go in Brazil‘s future. She will also offer perspective on what the ultimate legacy of Lula will be for the millions of poor Brazilians he claims to represent.
Hunter, who earned her doctorate in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, has done extensive research on the military in Brazil and the Southern Cone. She also has examined social policy issues in Latin America, including the politics of education and health reform. She is the author of Eroding Military Influence in Brazil; Politicians against Soldiers (University of North Carolina Press).
For more information on the lecture series, contact the Center for Latin American and Iberian Studies at 615-322-2527.
Media contact: Ann Marie Deer Owens, 615-322-NEWS
annmarie.owens@vanderbilt.edu