Discusses the relationship between squatters and the state in Brazil. Information on redemocratization in Latin America; Return of electoral democracy; Political transition from authoritarian to procedurally democratic regimes; Detailed information on the squatter settlements in Brazil; Distribution and sale of cocaine from public low-income housing projects; Information on prison authorities in Brazil.
Review the books The Disappearance of the Dowry: Women, Families, and Social Change in Sao Paulo, 1600-1900, by Muriel Nazzari, Family and Frontier in Colonial Brazil: Santana De Parnaiba, 1580-1822, by Alida C. Metcalf, The Family in Bahia, Brazil, 1870-1945, by Dain Borges, and Gosto Do Pecado: Casamento E Sexualidade Nos Manuais De Confessores Dos Seculos XVI E XVII, by Angela Mendes de Almeida.;
Focuses on the book "Casa-grande e senzala," by Brazilian sociologist Gilberto Freyre. In his book, Freyre introduces the idea of Brazilian racial democracy (democracia racial) and analyzes the views of black people in Brazil. Freyre and his ideas were said to be controversial and racist and many believed that these ideas created myths within society
Reviews several books on slavery. The Abolition of Slavery in Brazil: The "Liberation" of Africans Through the Emancipation of Capital, by David Baronov; The Virgin, The King and the Royal Slaves of El Cobre: Negotiating Freedom in Colonial Cuba, 1670-1780, by María Elena Díaz; The Rise of African Slavery in the Americas, by David Eltis.;
