A Public Intellectual in São Paulo

Abstract

In his long and diverse career as a notable public intellectual, Álvaro Vasconcelos has dedicated part of his international career to Brazil, maintaining an intense relationship with the University of São Paulo (USP), to which he was formally affiliated on two occasions. Initially, in 2014 and 2015, as a visiting professor at the Institute of International Relations (IRI), he mobilized the academic community around research on the evolution of international society and the mechanisms of global governance, and more specifically, on the developments of the Arab Spring in the Middle East and North Africa. As holder of the prestigious José Bonifácio Chair, in 2023 and 2024, he led researchers in studies related to cooperation between Europe and Latin America, a factor that he considers essential for the construction of an inclusive multilateral order capable of facing the great challenges of our time, giving primacy to human rights. This article presents a reflection on the results of his extensive and excellent work at USP.