"Civilizing" Rio: Reform and Resistance in a Brazilian City, 1889-1930 (Paperback)

by Teresa A. Meade (Author)
Key Phrases: millenarian vision, sol náo brilha, obligatory vaccination, Rio de Janeiro, Civilizing Rio, Imprensa Nacional (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The renovation of Rio, or "civilization" campaign, as the government called it, made life worse for the majority of the city's residents. Their resistance to the changes is the focus of this study, tracing the rebellion that continued for more than 20 years after the renovation ended in 1909.

About the Author
Teresa A. Meade is Associate Professor of History at Union College in Schenectady, New York. She is co-editor, with Mark Walker, of Science, Medicine, and Cultural Imperialism (St. Martin,¿¿s, 1991). --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press (December 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0271016086
• ISBN-13: 978-0271016085
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,421,054 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Major social history of urban life in Latin America, January 2, 1999

By A Customer

This a major addition to the social history of urban life in Brazil, and Latin America generally. By shifting the emphasis from workplace struggles to conflict over urban space, Meade allows us to rethink dramatic and sometimes puzzling episodes of popular protest in turn-of-the-century Rio de Janeiro (such as the revolt against compulsory smallpox vaccination). Her argument that these protests should be seen as part of the contest over capitalist modernization, and are no less "modern" than workplace struggles in nearby Sao Paulo, adds to the ongoing discussion of political consciousness as forming in struggles both within and beyond the point of production. Meade also explores the implications of "urban beautification" for the popular classes in a way that connects processes in Rio with broader global tendencies during the Age of Imperialism. Finally, the book is highly readable and accessible to the non-specialist, and can be used in courses ranging from introductory undergraduate surveys to graduate seminars.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent study of urban renewal and social conflict., January 20, 1999

By	Sueann Caulfield ([e-mail]) (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: "Civilizing" Rio: Reform and Resistance in a Brazilian City, 1889-1930 (Hardcover)

This book provides both a useful overview of urban social history in turn-of-the-century Rio de Janeiro and a unique and convincing analysis of how poor urban and suburban residents responded to urban renewal projects. The author places her analysis in an engaging, accessible, and accurate narrative of the city's broader history, weaving together the findings of a broad array of specialized secondary works. Her own primary research on popular protests provides a crucial part of this history, and her conclusions are suggestive of how popular movements might be understood elsewhere as well. The book shows that the effects of undemocratic urban administration can be disasterous for the least powerful sectors of the population. Yet is also shows that the urban poor were by no means "marginalized," nor did they decline to participate in orderly, legal forms of protest. Riots and violence exploded in Rio only after poor residents had tolerated arbitrary and violent government implementation of urban policies, and after they had found other avenues of appeal to government officials closed. This book is effective in undergraduate and graduate courses alike. In addition to providing an excellent overview of Rio's early twentieth-century history, the book stimulates students to think critically about urbanization, class conflict, forms of protest, and the peculiar concerns of non-industrial nations to create images of order and civilization in the early twentieth century.