Justice of the Peace - Anthropological analysis of moral codes and clientelism in Brazil (XIX-XX)

[Paulo Augusto Franco]

My research master job has proposed as an initial point a study about some specific political instititutions in Brazil which are responsible to construct the structural guides of clientelism and patronage in a way of elaborate a close connection between public and private spheres. Seeking this narrative propose, I study the judicial representative functions of the "Juízes de Paz" as well as its sociability models which are still permanent in the Brazilian political practices and imaginaries. In an anthropological parameters, I've adopted as conceptual references the imagined moral code in rural parishes where the "juízes de paz" had represented a strong model of order an respectability, the reputation as a strategic way to construct the clientele in political elections, and the representative/theatrical performance of this "laical" magistrates in its uses of mediation/conciliation.

I'd like to exchange ideas with you all in a way of receive suggestions and also colaborate with someone who has research aspects in common.

Hopefully to enlarge the debates at OAC!

Paulo Augusto Franco

Universidade Federal Fluminense (Master in Social Sciences and Justice)

Fundação Getúlio Vargas - Escola de Direito - Tutor

 

 

As a biographical main references, I'm adopting:

BAILEY, F.G, (1971). Gifts and Poison. The Politics of Reputation. New York: Shocken Books.

CAMPBELL, John K. (1964) Honour, family and patronage. A study of institutions and moral values ina Greek Mountain Community. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

FLORY, Thomas. Judge and Jury in Imperial Brazil, 1808-1871. Social Control and Political Stability. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981.

GLUCKMAN, Max. Gossip and Scandal. Current Anthropology, vol 4 no. 3, June.1963

GOFFMAN, Erving (1985) [1959] A representação do eu na vida cotidiana. Petrópolis: Vozes.

            __ (1970) Ritual de la interacción. Buenos Aires. Editora Tiempo Contemporáneo.

GRAHAM, Richard. Patronage and Politics in Nineteenth-Century Brazil. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990.

HOLANDA, Sérgio Buarque de. Raízes do Brasil. Rio de Janeiro, Record, 2000.

VIANNA, Oliveira. Populações meridionais do Brasil. Primeiro volume. Niterói: Editora da Universidade Federal Fluminense. 1987.

[John McCreery]

Fascinating project. I dimly remember there being a substantial literature related to patronage in southern Italy. Perhaps one of our Italian members could point us to it. As for East Asia, there is a lot about "quanxi," i.e., "connections" to be considered. Ellen Oxfeld's  Drink Water, but Remember the Source: Moral Discourse in a Chinese Village may offer some comparative insights.

[Paulo Augusto Franco]

Thank you for the kind attention, John! Do you have a pdf version for this Elles Oxfeld's text or could I find it to buy in any website?

Best wishes!

John McCreery said:

Fascinating project. I dimly remember there being a substantial literature related to patronage in southern Italy. Perhaps one of our Italian members could point us to it. As for East Asia, there is a lot about "quanxi," i.e., "connections" to be considered. Ellen Oxfeld's  Drink Water, but Remember the Source: Moral Discourse in a Chinese Village may offer some comparative insights.

[John McCreery]

Sorry, don't have a PDF. It can be obtained from Amazon.com here. Ditto for Mayfair Mei-hui Yang Gifts, Favors and Banquets: The Art of Social Relations in China.