Intellectuals and the public sphere in Brazil: Ideas and political practice of Joaquim Nabuco

Abstract

The role of intellectuals in the public sphere has been the subject of studies and debates carried out from several different theoretical and historiographical perspectives. There is, however, some consensus that it is up to the intellectual to act critically in the political and social arena. Thus, this text aims to present the specificity of intellectual activity in Latin America, especially the case of Brazil, where intellectuals, in addition to intervening critically in the public sphere, also acted, throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, as formulators and executors of public policies. To illustrate this particularity, some of the ideas and political practice of Joaquim Nabuco, one of the leaders of the abolitionist movement, will be analyzed.