Taking Stock (with discomfort) of the Military Dictatorship Fifty Years after the 1964 Coup: a Bibliographical Essay

Abstract

This essay reviews the main analyses produced for publication in 2014 alluding to the 50 th anniversary of the 1964 coup and the dictatorship that followed (1964-85). It is noteworthy that most of these analyses, authored by historians and journalists, relativize several Manichaean concepts and versions; chiefly, they enhance society's responsibility for this authoritarian experiment. The coup, they claim, was not an atypical event in the country's political history; it simply expanded conservative and authoritarian values. In daring fashion, they point out the precarious or absent democratic vocation of the forces of the Left, as well as the advances in terms of the country's economic and social modernization under the military governments. The duration of the dictatorship is also questioned. In the eyes of some, it lasted only from 1964 to 1979, and arguments to this end are exhaustively presented. The fact that the report of the National Truth Commission (NTC) was released also in 2014 raised an intense debate in the press and in academia about repression and the crimes of the dictatorship, especially against urban guerrilla organizations, which are also examined in instigating fashion in this bibliography.

Social Change in Brazil Through Innovations and Social Movements

“…After the president in office sought to guide Brazilian politics to the left, a military intervention toppled the government and took power, shaping a military dictatorship that prevented democratization and transformation for 21 years (1964–1985). There has been some debate as to whether the dictatorship ended with the Amnesty Law (1979) or with the establishment of the New Republic in 1985 (D’Araujo, 2015). The military regime–imposed restrictions on the social and education system, and in the following decades, various actors such as civil society, NGOs, and students were involved in public issues, making space for social movements in the country.…”

Aniversários do golpe de 1964: debates historiográficos, implicações políticas

“…O alargamento do debate acadêmico sobre a ditadura para o espaço público é um fenômeno relativamente novo, uma vez que o interesse pelo período cresceu apenas 2 Entre os levantamentos historiográficos sobre a ditadura e alguns de seus debates, destaco (FICO, 2004(FICO, , 2017BADARÓ, 2008;NAPOLITANO, 2011NAPOLITANO, e 2016MELO, 2014;D'ARAÚJO, 2015) 3 Para citar apenas alguns trabalhos nessa direção (MARTINS FILHO, 2003;ROLLEMBERG, 2006;MOTTA, 2013;NAPOLITANO, 2015).…”