The 20th-Century Transformation of the Brazilian Family

FAIN: FA-53444-07

Sueann Caulfield
Regents of the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1382)

This project seeks to explain the transformation of family law in twentieth-century Brazil as both a reflection of and a catalyst for changes in social conceptions of the family and the range of relationships within it. I combine close analysis of individuals who brought their family conflicts to the courts in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador with a survey of general trends in the larger universe of family court cases. Analysis of these cases is situated within demographic trends, social movements, and debates among politicians, jurists, and the general public, in an effort to understand the relationships among national-level structures and institutions and individual family dynamics.