BRASA Digest #879

Artistic Resonances in Latin America and the Caribbean

The 59th International Congress of Americanists (ICA 2027) invites proposals for a panel examining artistic production in Latin America and the Caribbean from pre-colonial times to the present. Drawing on Édouard Glissant’s thought, the panel welcomes interdisciplinary, comparative, and transnational approaches that explore relationships between art, politics, identities, memory, history, and orality.

Contributions may address a wide range of artistic media—including painting, sculpture, photography, cinema, performance, installation, sound, digital art, and video art—as well as topics such as Indigenous artistic practices, coloniality and decoloniality, diasporas, migrations, gender, feminisms, activism, cultural heritage, archives, curatorial practices, exhibitions, and the international circulation of Latin American and Caribbean art. Academic papers, artistic practices, curatorial projects, research in progress, and experimental writing are welcome.

Event: 59th International Congress of Americanists (ICA 2027), Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín, Colombia, July 5–9, 2027.

A maldição de viver em tempos interessantes: autoritarismo, crise democrática e disputas de sentidos no século XXI

Entreparágrafos (ISSN 3086-4550), an interdisciplinary open-access journal affiliated with the Faculty of Law at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), invites submissions for the dossier A maldição de viver em tempos interessantes: autoritarismo, crise democrática e disputas de sentidos no século XXI (The Curse of Living in Interesting Times: Authoritarianism, Democratic Crisis, and Contested Meanings in the Twenty-First Century).

The dossier welcomes original research on democratic erosion, the rise of the new right, digital platforms and political mobilization, disinformation, and forms of resistance, with particular interest in studies on Brazil and comparative perspectives.

Contributions may include original articles, essays, and critical reviews in Portuguese, English, Spanish, or French. There are no submission or publication fees.

Literatura contra a guerra

Revista Jangada (ISSN 2317-4722) invites submissions for the dossier Literatura contra a guerra, which examines the longstanding relationship between literature and armed conflict. Recognizing war as one of literature’s foundational themes, the dossier welcomes critical approaches to the ways literary works represent, question, and confront violence.

The dossier seeks contributions that explore the intersections between war and literary language, including representations of conflict, memory, resistance, violence, and the social dimensions of literature. Submissions may engage with different literary traditions, historical periods, and critical perspectives.

The dossier is organized by Joelma Santana Siqueira (UFV/CNPq) and Felipe A. P. L. Costa (writer, editor, and independent researcher).

ENAP: Graduate opportunities for international applicants

Brazil’s National School of Public Administration (ENAP) is accepting applications from international candidates for its professional master’s and doctoral programs.

Six places have been reserved: three in the Professional Master’s in Governance and Development; two in the Professional Master’s in Public Policy Evaluation and Monitoring; and one in the Professional Doctorate in Public Policy.

Prospective applicants should consult the official notice for eligibility requirements, required documents and selection procedures.

UFGD: Master’s and doctoral admissions in History

The Graduate Program in History at the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD), based in its Faculty of Human Sciences, has announced the selection process for its master’s and doctoral programs.

The call is for admission as regular students in the first semester of 2027. Applicants should consult the program’s announcement for application dates, eligibility requirements, documents and selection procedures.

ENAP: Postdoctoral fellowship opportunity

Brazil’s National School of Public Administration (ENAP) is accepting applications for a postdoctoral fellowship for researchers with a doctoral degree interested in advancing research on public policies, government management, and new paradigms of governance and development.

The fellowship seeks researchers capable of analyzing the complexities of Brazilian public management and developing innovative approaches for the governance of public policies, with emphasis on policy design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

Applicants should consult the official regulations for eligibility requirements and application procedures.

New Book: Boa vizinhança: Por que Brasil e Estados Unidos nunca foram aliados incondicionais nem adversários permanentes?

Written by Gustavo Pessoa, this book explores nearly two and a half centuries of relations between Brazil and the United States, revealing how one of the most important partnerships in international politics helped shape Brazil’s history. Combining extensive research with an accessible narrative, it examines the shifting balance between cooperation and mistrust, from the late eighteenth century to contemporary political and diplomatic challenges.

The book argues that Brazil and the United States have never been unconditional allies nor permanent adversaries, offering historical context for many of the issues that continue to influence relations between Brasília and Washington today.

Author: Gustavo Pessoa.
Length: 288 pages.
Language: Portuguese.

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Literatura e violência: figurações contemporâneas

Edited by Cimara Valim de Melo, Fabíola Padilha, and Maria Zilda Ferreira Cury and published by Zouk, this essay collection brings together 18 contributors to examine representations of violence in contemporary literature, particularly within the Portuguese-speaking world. Through transnational critical perspectives, the volume explores themes including the legacies of colonialism, religious intolerance, racial prejudice, environmental degradation, and gender-based violence, highlighting literature as a powerful response to contemporary forms of oppression.

Contributors from academic institutions in Brazil and abroad analyze a wide range of literary works, demonstrating how fiction offers critical insight into shared experiences of individual and collective suffering while affirming the transformative potential of literary expression.

Publisher: Zouk.
Length: 402 pages.
Language: Portuguese.

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Outra lógica da prática para moradia e cidade: o direito de existir / Another Logic of Practice for Housing and the City: the Right to Exist

Edited by Denise Morado (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais) and Kristal Bivona (San Diego State University), this bilingual volume presents research on contemporary strategies and practices for housing and urban life developed in collaboration with residents. The collection explores alternative approaches to housing and the city that seek to expand and ensure the right to exist through interdisciplinary and community-engaged research.

The book is the outcome of a collaborative project involving researchers from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, the Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, and San Diego State University. It is available as a free ebook.

Editors: Denise Morado and Kristal Bivona.
Format: Bilingual (Portuguese/English) ebook.
Availability: Free digital edition.

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Sustainable Attitudes in the Quilombos: Volume 1 — Water and Basic Sanitation

Edited by Anderson Moraes de Castro e Silva and André Rodrigues Pereira and published by Atena Editora (2026), this interdisciplinary volume examines the relationship between sustainability, infrastructure, and basic rights in quilombola communities in Brazil. Focusing on water management and sanitation, the book highlights both the structural challenges faced by these communities and the sustainable practices they develop to protect their territories, resources, and ways of life.

Bringing together perspectives from environmental justice, public policy, human geography, and ethnic studies, the volume contributes to broader discussions on contemporary Brazilian society and the resilience of traditional communities.

Editors: Anderson Moraes de Castro e Silva and André Rodrigues Pereira.
Publisher: Atena Editora.
Year: 2026.
Focus: Quilombola communities, environmental justice, water management, and basic sanitation.

Modern Brazil and the World

Written by Darién J. Davis and published by Routledge, this book examines Brazil’s history through the lens of global exchanges, highlighting the role of ordinary people in shaping the nation from the late eighteenth century to the present day. It explores how Brazil’s political, social, economic, and cultural transformations have been connected to worldwide movements, including the abolition of slavery, feminist movements, the World Wars, the democratic transitions of the 1980s, and contemporary struggles for social justice.

The volume analyzes the construction of Brazilian nationhood, transnational connections, migration, and cultural exchange, while examining Brazil’s relationships with Europe, North America, and its more recent South-South relations, particularly with the Caribbean.

Author: Darién J. Davis.
Publisher: Routledge.
Focus: Modern Brazil, global history, transnational exchanges, politics, society, and culture.

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