NSF Org:	SES Division of Social and Economic Sciences
Recipient:	BROWN UNIVERSITY
Initial Amendment Date:	September 5, 2008
Latest Amendment Date:	September 5, 2008
Award Number:	0825130
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Patricia White SES  Division of Social and Economic Sciences SBE  Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences
Start Date:	September 15, 2008
End Date:	August 31, 2009 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$7,500.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$7,500.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2008 = $7,500.00
History of Investigator:	Patrick Heller (Principal Investigator) Patrick_Heller@brown.edu Christopher Gibson (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	Brown University 1 PROSPECT ST PROVIDENCE RI  US  02912-9100 (401)863-2777
Sponsor Congressional District:	01
Primary Place of Performance:	Brown University 1 PROSPECT ST PROVIDENCE RI  US  02912-9100
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	01
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	E3FDXZ6TBHW3
Parent UEI:	E3FDXZ6TBHW3
NSF Program(s):	Sociology
Primary Program Source:	01000809DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):	9150, 9179, SMET
Program Element Code(s):	133100
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.075

ABSTRACT

SES-0824130
Patrick Heller
Christopher Gibson
Brown University

Brazil in the 20th century was among the most unequal - and persistently unequal - societies in world history. Over the long run, how, when, and why did Brazil became so persistently unequal in its social and economic development? This project first documents a new dimension of Brazilian inequality by showing that Brazil's states generally maintained their levels of economic and social development relative to one another throughout most of the 20th century. Through a comparative historical analysis of Brazilian states, the co-PI will use archives and regional and local histories to test five hypotheses about potential long-run causes of this inequality, including the extent of Portuguese colonial penetration by 1650, the intensity of slavery by 1650 and by 1888, the presence of labor-intensive estates after 1700, the intensity of tropical export agriculture after 1700, and liberal or conservative control of provincial governments after the mid 19th century. Initial research suggests that an overlooked variable drove Brazilian social and economic inequality: control of the sub-national state and its precursors by different class configurations. The study will contribute a detailed and comprehensive study of the Brazilian case to the evolving theoretical framework in sociology on legacies of colonialism.

Broader impacts of the study include: 1) enhanced multidisciplinary collaborations for future research; and 2) broad dissemination of findings to lay, policy, and academic audiences. First, the project will build and deepen multidisciplinary collaborations with social scientists and historians of Brazil by participating in multi- and interdisciplinary conferences, workshops, and research partnerships. Second, findings will be disseminated broadly to academic, policy, and lay audiences, contributing a more robust empirical understanding of the differential historical trajectories of inequality in different regions of Brazil.

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