Globalization Impacts On Brazil

This paper shall attempt to analysis and explain the role of Brazil in globalization. For some time now, this country has been striving to become a global leader and has encountered both setbacks and advancements in the way it has sought to integrate itself into global markets. Social, political, economic, cultural and technological processes are the major topics to consider when studying the impacts made on countries such as Brazil. Those topics in their order will from the outline of this report.

Social Factors

The population of Brazil is roughly 150 million and approximately 45 reside in the top 20 largest cities. Most of the larger cities that maintain the greatest significance lie on the coast of the South Atlantic Ocean or very near to it. Social inequality has consistently plagued the country. Despite the government implementing policies aimed at creating equality amongst social classes, the country and its societies remain highly unequal concerning education, residence and in the workplace. People in large cities live in much the same way that Americans do when speaking of living standards. Those in rural areas and a small portion of urban areas are classified as ones living in poverty. Social needs for the lower class go unsatisfied. They are mostly overlooking and ignored when trying to belong to work groups and functions. Fortunately, the middle class has grown substantially since the mid twentieth century. This sector of class structure is not based on what one owns but rather on the skills or trades that they possess. Growth in numbers of these people has helped to smooth out social class inequality, but room from improvement remains.

Employment from 1950 all the way through 2000 experienced a positive trend pointing towards growth. The rates the rate growths have been comparable to population increases. In all sectors, agricultural, industrial, service and informal, performance and growth rates could be considered as doing well despite the occasion dip in certain years. Most people were employed in the services and informal sectors. The informal economy did well at providing a cushion for those that could not find jobs in the formal economy and consists of mostly self-employed persons that executed petty services. Also, the employment rate of women rose close to 20% in the latter half of the twentieth century which is accepted well globally.

Working conditions in Brazil tend to vary quite a bit from the more industrialized southeast region where workers are paid better, have stronger benefits and are treated equally as opposed to the northern areas where pay is less, younger children work and women are more often discriminated against. Government and labor unions have imposed guidelines that companies should follow so that working conditions are favorable for employees. If workers are not being treated well then fines can be charged to the offenders if they are discovered. Brazil is the largest producer and exporter of ethanol due to the huge sugar cane industry. The conditions that cane cutters have endured are no less than extreme. Long days, poor benefits, pay and hazards all contribute to this extreme nature. Both the U.S. and EU have threatened to cut back on imports of the product because of the unfair practices placed on workers. To counter the threat, sugar cane companies have worked on improving working conditions that are suitable to standards. Shorter days, better meals and pay are a few of the things to mention. With the increase in cane quotas the phasing out of manual labor and a switch to machines will prove to eventually create an unemployment issue and will need to be addressed.

Political Factors

Up until 1985, Brazil’s government was run by military power and for 3 long years after it took the people this amount of time to construct the countries constitution and to form a democracy. It is set up much the way that our American government is, with 3 branches. Judiciary having the president elected by majority vote and in terms that last 4 years with the possibility of being elected to an additional term, legislative that consists of an 81 seat Senate that operate under 8-year terms along with the Chamber of Deputies that total 513 members and are elected by majority vote with each member serving 4 year terms, as well as the judiciary branch and its Supreme Federal Tribunal comprised of 11 people that are appointed by the president and serve lifetime terms.

“Politics in Brazil, like anywhere else, is mostly about claiming credit for improvements, dodging the blame for disasters and occasionally solving problems.” (Economist.com) Sounds like the way that most humans operate to me. It is however, patronage politics and corruption that have somewhat defaced the image of their government. Officials in the past and even today tend to accept substantial amounts of money from different groups of people, businesses and the like in order to shift favor towards contributing parties and for political support. Things have gotten better though and moving from unstable grounds politically to slightly more solid ground has improved the image of the Brazilian government. Still there is much work left to be done. Finding politicians that want to do good for the public as a whole is a difficult task these days. Most are self-serving, money grubbers that do very little to help matters and operate under their own agenda. It’s not like other countries can look down on these practices, because when thinking of politics these days it seems that most politicians in general proceed to act much the same way. The president does say that plans are laid out for the reformation of legislature. If effective, this will be imperative to progress.

As for foreign policy and affairs, Brazil has the propensity to exercise diplomacy and to act as team players when confronting global issues. They do not dabble in other peoples business and this is recognized as being a popular view today. Many people throughout the world disagree with the decision of the United States to step in and man-handle the affairs of countries in the Middle East with great persistence. Brazil maintains the position that it is wrong to tangle this way and also that disputes should be settled in a peaceful fashion. This is the approach taken when dealing in trade policy regionally and throughout the world, but with a focus on growing closer to developing countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa instead of working with more developed countries like the U.S. and ones in the European Union. Their aim is to take advantage of the power they control in South America and to meet their own goals when negotiating trade policy around the world independently. Because friendly relations are maintained