The main political events of Brazil have presented in the moments of deep crisis throughout history as the main characteristic the conciliation between the representative political forces of the ruling classes with the maintenance of the economic and social status quo as happened with the Independence of the Country in 1822, the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889 and the end of the Oligarchic Republic in 1930. The conciliation between the representative political forces of the ruling classes can assume two characteristics, according to the Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci: 1) passive revolution; and 2) counter-reform .

1. 1
PASSIVE REVOLUTION, COUNTER-REFORM OR POPULAR
REVOLUTION IN BRAZIL?
Fernando Alcoforado*
The main political events of Brazil have presented in the moments of deep crisis
throughout history as the main characteristic the conciliation between the representative
political forces of the ruling classes with the maintenance of the economic and social
status quo as happened with the Independence of the Country in 1822, the Proclamation
of the Republic in 1889 and the end of the Oligarchic Republic in 1930. The
conciliation between the representative political forces of the ruling classes can assume
two characteristics, according to the Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci: 1) passive
revolution; and 2) counter-reform [COUTINHO, Carlos Nelson. Revolução passiva ou
contrarreforma? (Passive revolution or counter-reform?) Available at the website
<http://www.acessa.com/gramsci/?page=visualizar&id=790>].
Unlike a popular "Jacobin" revolution, such as the French 1789, Russian 1917, Chinese
1949, and Cuban 1959 revolutions carried out by the people by breaking down the
dominant power by radically breaking with the old political, economic and social order,
a passive revolution always implies the presence of two moments: that of “restoration”
(it is always a conservative reaction against the possibility of an effective and radical
transformation from “below”, that is, a popular revolution) and “renewal” (in which
some of the popular demands are met through “concessions” from the ruling strata).
In Brazil, the 1964 coup d'état was a passive revolution based on “restoration” because
it was a counterrevolution, that is, a conservative reaction to the possibility of an
effective and radical transformation from “below” during the João Goulart
administration. The end of the Oligarchic Republic in 1930, for example, was a passive
revolution based on “renewal” in which some of the popular demands were met by the
ruling classes, such as the social laws introduced by the Getúlio Vargas government that
represented “concessions” to subordinate social strata, besides contributing to the
advance of capitalism in Brazil.
As for the counter-reform, Gramsci characterizes it as a pure "restoration" of a political,
economic and social order that eliminates obstacles to the development of capitalism,
such as the "restoration" of liberalism now with new elements. The passive revolution
acts towards the “restoration” of a political, economic and social order by acting to
prevent, for example, a social revolution. In the counter-reform, there is a “combination
of old and new,” that is, liberalism that has come to operate globally.
The Welfare State, for example, introduced in several Western European countries after
World War II, was a passive revolution with the introduction of social democracy that
had the moment of restoration by barring the possibilities of successful of socialist
revolution and the moment of renewal by adopting the interventionist economic policies
suggested by Keynes and by accommodating many of the demands of the working
classes. In turn, the counter-reform has as an example the neoliberalism that was
introduced in the world economy, including Brazil, from the 1990s to enable the return
of the old liberalism, which was previously limited to each country, to operate on the
world level.
In the neoliberal era in which we live there is no space for the advancement of social

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rights. On the contrary, there is the elimination of such rights and the deconstruction
and denial of the reforms already achieved by the subordinate classes. So-called
"reforms" of social security, labor protection laws, privatization of public enterprises,
etc. - “reforms” that are currently present on the political agenda of both central and
peripheral capitalist countries, such as Brazil, aim at the pure and simple restoration of
the conditions proper to a “savage” capitalism, in which market laws must be applied
without restriction.
After the passive revolution based on the "restoration" carried out by the military
regime from 1964 to 1985, the economic policy adopted by the Fernando Henrique
Cardoso, Lula and Dilma Rousseff governments represented a mix of passive revolution
based on "renewal" and counter-reform. With the passive revolution based on “renewal”
some popular demands were met by the ruling classes, such as cash transfer programs
such as Bolsa Familia. The counter-reform was characterized by the introduction of
neoliberalism which resulted in the elimination of some social rights, the deconstruction
and denial of the reforms already achieved by the subordinate classes, the privatization
of public enterprises, etc.
Brazil, more than any other country in Latin America, can be characterized as the
quintessential place of passive revolution and counter-reform. Independence of Brazil
differed from the experience of other Latin American countries because it did not have
the characteristics of a typical national-liberatory revolutionary process because it was
aborted, in the Brazilian case, by the episode of the Portuguese royal family's
transmigration to Brazil, when the Colony received the structure and frameworks of the
Portuguese metropolitan state.
Revolutionary nativism, under the influence of the ideals of liberalism and the great
revolutions of the late eighteenth century, gave way in Brazil to the logic of to keep and
to change that still prevails today, with the initiative of D. Pedro I, Crown Prince of the
Portuguese Royal House, and not to the Brazilian people the political act that
culminated with Independence. Brazil's independence was therefore a "revolution
without revolution" because there were no changes in the nation's economic base and
political and legal superstructures. The State born of Independence maintains the
execrable landholding and intensifies the no less execrable slavery by making it the
support of restoration of the economic structures inherited from the Colony.
Brazil was the last country in the world to end slavery in the nineteenth century, land
reform is yet to be realized because the landlord-based agrarian structure still exists in
Brazil, currently modernized with agribusiness, and the process of industrialization was
introduced late in Brazil, 200 years after the Industrial Revolution in England. This
explains Brazil's economic backwardness relative to more developed countries. The
economic crises faced by Brazil throughout its history have not been able to generate
political crises that would lead the Brazilian people to the “Jacobin” social revolution
and put in check the economic system and the holders of power to promote their
economic and social development.
Despite the numerous popular uprisings recorded throughout the history of Brazil, a true
political, economic and social revolution capable of making profound structural changes
and promoting development for the benefit of the Brazilian population has never
actually happened in Brazil. All the revolutionary attempts made in Brazil were aborted

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with harsh repression by the holders of power. It is well known that, in the world, the
countries that have advanced politically are those whose peoples have been
protagonists, through social revolutions, the changes made in the economic and social
planes.
At the current juncture, the country is moving swiftly towards economic and political
collapse with the nefarious Bolsonaro government, which is making a mix of passive
“restoration” revolution, aimed at maintaining the privileges of the ruling classes and
promoting setbacks in the social realm, and of counter-reform by deepening
neoliberalism to the detriment of the interests of its population and Brazil. The passive
revolution based on the “restoration” associated with the counter-reform is a
conservative reaction to the possibility of an effective and radical transformation of
Brazil that corresponds to the will of the vast majority of the Brazilian population. The
critical political, economic and social situation in which Brazil is currently facing may
also cause social upheaval that may abort the passive and counter-reform revolution and
result in a Jacobin or popular revolution in Brazil.

Fernando Alcoforado, 79, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System,
member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional
Development by the University of Barcelona, university professor and consultant in the areas of
strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is author of the
books Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem
Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2000),
Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de
Barcelona,http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e Desenvolvimento
(Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos
Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the
Economic and Social Development- The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller
Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe
Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável-
Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do
Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social
(Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática
Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2015), As Grandes Revoluções Científicas,
Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016), A Invenção de um novo
Brasil (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2017), Esquerda x Direita e a sua convergência (Associação Baiana de
Imprensa, Salvador, 2018, em co-autoria) and Como inventar o futuro para mudar o mundo (Editora
CRV, Curitiba, 2019).