The Brazil Institute at King’s College London is inviting submissions on the topic of the military and politics in Brazil, for a virtual conference to be held on 27 and 28 May 2021.

Military involvement in Brazilian politics dates back to the origins of the Brazilian Republic itself. Literature and research on the Brazilian military regime, re-democratization, and civil-military relations in Brazil is consolidated and robust. However, a multidisciplinary approach to understand the pervasive presence of the military in the Brazilian political arena from a broader historical and contemporary perspective is still lacking, especially as Brazil is seeing an increasing presence of its military in power today.

Academia and civil society alike are beginning to question the potential implications of these levels of militarization within a democracy, especially in a country still under the shadows of a military regime (1964-1985). Furthermore, civil-military relations in Brazil have not developed in the same way they have in Europe or North America. The aim of this conference is to understand how Brazil’s military has come to jold such a contentious position within the country’s socio-political history.

The conference is interdisciplinary and we encourage submissions from both senior and junior scholars carrying out research in the fields of political science, civil-military relations, history, sociology, and collective memory. Submissions should broadly seek to address questions such as:

• What does it mean to have military forces at the centre stage of a nation’s historical trajectory and construction?
• How does the presence of such an entity influence the social imaginary of a people? 
• What impact does the presence of the military have on Brazil’s domestic and foreign politics?
• What conceptual and methodological tools might we use to better understand civil-military relations in Brazil?

The Organising committee:

• Dr Vinicius Mariano de Carvalho, King's Brazil Institute – Department of War Studies, King's
• Dr Anna Grimaldi, King's Brazil Institute, Department of International Development, King's
• Professor Antony Pereira, King's Brazil Institute, Department of International Development, King's
• Dr Kieran Mitton, Department of War Studies, King's
• Dr Eleonora Natale, Department of War Studies, King's
• Professor Rafael Duarte Villa, Department of of International Relations, University of São Paulo
• Professor Laura C. Ferreira-Pereira, Department of Political Science, University of Minho
• Dr Anais Medeiros Passos, Department of of Sociology and Political Science, Federal Univiversity of Santa Catarina
• Professor Eduardo Svartman, Department of of Political Science,
  Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul
• Mr Raphael Camargo Lima, Department of War Studies, King's