Globalização, elites empresariais e democracia no Brasil dos anos 90

Resumo

This paper is aimed at analyzing the mode of attachment of the Brazilian
entrepreneurs of the manufacturing sector on the current debate on the
dilemmas faced by society and government on the verge of the next
millenium. This debate unfolds around three encompassing and
interdependent themes. The first concerns the current phase of the
globalization process; the second concerns the path of the national
economy; and the third is related to the problems of consolidation of
democracy. Starting with considerations on the globalization process and
the constraints which it poses to the society, the paper focuses the
characteristics of the new Latin American democracies that were set up
in a context of worsening of the external crisis. Next it analyses of the
Brazilian case intending to assess the political activities of national
entrepreneurs during the different conjunctures of the period between
1985 to 1997. Finally, the paper suggests some hypothesis regarding the
capacity of these entrepreneurs to develop more autonomous forms of
behavior in order to enable them to exercise an active role within a new
coalition of forces as regards the discussion of alternatives to the current
economic model.