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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The drivers of Brazil's expansion into Africa: a critical assessment |
Author: | Scalco, Priscila |
Year: | 2011 |
Periodical: | Research Review (ISSN 0855-4412) |
Volume: | 27 |
Issue: | 1 |
Pages: | 35-64 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | Africa Brazil |
Subjects: | foreign policy international economic relations South-South relations |
Abstract: | The rise of neoliberalism and the reorganization of global power allows emerging economies like Brazil to redefine their role in the international arena and challenge the traditional power dynamics between North and South. In this sense, Brazil gears its expansion into Africa, as South-South cooperation discourses are becoming relevant to global governance. Brazil's Africa policy has not always been constant and during the 1990s it stagnated. However, since 2000, and notably since the election of President Lula in 2003, the foreign ministry has recognized the opportunities for expansion into Africa. Making use of soft power strategies, the Brazilian government seems to be increasing its influence on the continent. By analysing Brazil's drivers of expansion in Africa, this article proposes that each driver - cultural ties, technology transfer, commercial opportunities, and South-South cooperation - reinforces a neoliberal rationale that places emerging economies in an ambiguous position of serving interests which do not always translate into mutual benefits. Moreover, Brazilian expansion into Africa allows the country to assume a leading position as representative of a southern constituency, which serves the Brazilian interests. Bibliogr., notes, sum. in English and French. [ASC Leiden abstract] |