Brazil is currently going through several simultaneous crises: Politically, the growth of right-wing extremism is putting more and more pressure on democratic institutions and democratic coexistence. In economic terms, the stagnation that has persisted since 2015 is solidifying due to the political trivialization of the pandemic and the uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus as a result. Ecologically, conscious relaxation of environmental regulations and a targeted weakening of environmental protection institutions lead to an unprecedented ecological crisis. These multiple crises mutually condition and deepen each other as the country is led ever deeper into an almost dystopian impasse. More than ever, a scientific analysis and education of the international public about the multiple crises in Brazil is a necessity in research, scientific and educational work as well as German foreign and development policy on Latin America. The need for analysis, clarification and public attention justifies the project of a series of events in Germany on Brazil, in which scientists, journalists, politicians, artists, students and activists from Brazil and Germany can freely move exchange and learn from each other.

The format

The title of the series of events “Berlin Dialogues with Brazil” refers on the one hand to the organization of the event within the framework of the cooperation between Germany and Brazil and to its concentration in Berlin. On the other hand, the series of events embodies the widely felt unease in the German and international public about the current developments in Brazil after the successful phase of democratization that goes back to the 1990s. The nine planned sessions of the series of events include panel discussions and main lectures with comments or co-presentations. The panel discussions are composed of four presentations of a maximum of 15 minutes each. The main lectures will be a maximum of 25 minutes, followed by two comments of 10 minutes each. After the presentations, 20 minutes will be allowed for discussions between the panelists, followed by a 40-minute discussion based on questions from the audience, which can be sent in writing via chat.

A cooperation of the Maria Sibylla Merian Center Conviviality-Inequality in Latin America (mecila) with: Latin America Institute (LAI) of the Free University of Berlin (FU Berlin), Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung (hbs) , Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung (RLS), Research and Documentation Center Chile-Latin America / Brazil Initiative Berlin (FDCL / BIB), Catholic aid organization Misereor (MISEREOR), Latin America Forum (LAF), Global South Studies Center (GSSC) of the University of Cologne (UzK).

The series is carried out free of charge as a zoom event with Portuguese-German simultaneous interpretation.

Access and further information

For further information about the sessions and its contents please click here (link in German).