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São Paulo, 07/01/2009

Papers in English

In this section you will find texts in English only. If you want to see all publications, please refer to the general menu, under Artigos Online, Principais Livros etc. The texts, including books, are published here under Creative Commons (or Copyleft) rights, which means you can freely print, copy, send them to friends, so long as it is for non-commercial use, the text is not modified and you mention the author and the original site http://dowbor.org The texts are in chronological order, the most recent ones at the top.

Understanding Lula's Strength – 2008 / 4 p.
[última atualização: 08/05/2008]

In the results of Brazil's National Survey of Sample Households (PNAD) there is an explanation for the President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's popularity that intrigues the center, the right, and part of the left. Brazil became less unequal in many senses. To call the advances which have been achieved "welfare" doesn't help to understand the current reality, nor to work toward more profound changes. Original text in Portuguese can be seen below, under "Brasil: retrato sócio-econômico".

The Broken Mosaic: Economics Beyond Formulas – 2004 / 87 p.
[última atualização: 14/03/2004]

The way we see the world is influenced by a mixture of emotional experiences, of things that happen in our daily life, our social environment, and also, but never exclusively, theories. A vision of how the economy works is built here, step by step, looking into theories, but also into the values that support them. The book is a translation of "O Mosaico Partido: a economia além das equações", published in Brazil by Editora Vozes.

High Interest Rates and Decapitalization of the Economy – 2002 / 5 p.
[última atualização: 27/12/2002]

The process has become, on the whole, relatively simple. The money you deposit in the Bank, if you have small savings like I do, yields around 10% per year. The Bank uses this money to buy government bonds, at 25%. The government, in turn, repays these bonds with public funds – that is, with our taxes. Since 25% minus 10% is 15%, we are paying the bank, through the government and with our taxes, 15% annually to keep our money. Working with the money of others in this way is, for the Bank, really quite gratifying. But the issue here is not this, but rather the practical consequences in terms of the reduction of our economic options.

Social Management and Transformation of Society – 2000 / 18 p.
[última atualização: 01/03/2000]

The American economy today is no longer driven by the automotive industry, but by the health sector, which represents 14% of the country’s GDP. While social services have become central to modern economies, their management paradigm has yet to be identified. Huge, centralized state bureaucracies are sorely lacking in responsiveness, while privatization has led to dramatic abuses. The lack of specific solutions to cope with the new demands of social services has become a major problem in both industrialized and emergent economies.

Decentralization and governance – 1998 / 17 p.
[última atualização: 01/01/1998]

This paper studies some of the key structural trends that are transforming our society, and the implications for our ideas concerning how society is being managed. Both traditional liberalism or neo-liberalism, and state-centered left are here considered as unsufficient for the new theoretical challenge. Published by Latin American Perspectives, January 1998 E-mail: order@sagepub.com

Child Friendly Cities in Africa – 1997 / 16 p.
[última atualização: 01/01/1997]

A study of practical measures local administrations can take to face the problem of children, and particularly of children at risk. The paper was published jointly by Unicef, Habitat, Undp, Unep, Unesco and the Urban Management Programme (UMP), as a report of the Accra Workshop on Child Friendly Cities.

Social policy in South Africa – 1996 / 20 p.
[última atualização: 01/01/1996]

Estudo técnico realizado a pedido da Unicef, na África do Sul, sobre as formas renovadas de gestão de políticas sociais que a descentralização e sistemas participativos permitem. Publicado em português pela revista Cultura Vozes, julho-agosto 1997, com o título Política Social Urbana na África do Sul - Fax (011) 258.7070.

Preface to Paulo Freire: Pedagogy of the Heart – 1995 / 6 p.
[última atualização: 01/01/1995]

Preface to Paulo Freire's last book, Pedagogy of the Heart (Á Sombra desta Mangueira in the Brazilian original), discussing the necessary bridges to be built between education, politics, economic policies and social values. The arguments are centered on the notion of social solidarity. Published by Continuum Pub Group, New York, November 1997. See also The Broken Mosaic, http://dowbor.org under "Artigos Online".

São Paulo: space and development – 1992 / 12 p.
[última atualização: 01/01/1992]

Estudo do desacerto dos instrumentos de gestão tradicionais frente a problemas novos que apresenta uma megalópole de 16 milhões de habitantes, onde se avolumam 12 mil toneladas de lixo por dia, onde se acotovelam 4 milhões de automóveis que circulam a menos de 15 quilómetros horários, onde mil quilómetros quadrados impermeáveis formam uma bacia que transforma qualquer chuva em calamidade pública.