The formation of the brazilian business class

Abstract

We analyze the formation of the national business community as political actors. We develop a diachronic approach that relates the successive stages of formation of the nation state vis-à-vis the consolidation of the business class. The agrarian export oriented aristocracy through the process of capital accumulation enabled the gradual formation of the Brazilian industrial class that was crystallized throughout the Old Republic. The industrial project has acquired a hegemonic character from the New Republic and the New State and consolidated throughout the various changes in political interlocution undertaken by the Brazilian government, including, besides the agrarian aristocracy, international capital, the state bourgeoisie and, most recently, new strata of civil society. In tune with the changes in the political structure of the Brazilian state, the business class has sought new forms of political mediation. This evolved from patrimonialism to corporative and associative modes of representation, constituting civil organizations for cross-sector themes in studies and research; it expanded its influence in the Legislature, and participated in a broad political consensus, but without abandoning patronage methods and personal ties. The entrepreneur as a political actor faces a disjunctive between a complex and flexible array of representation, on the one hand, and the establishment of comprehensive policy platforms that represent the national interest, on the other hand.