The national state as ideology: the Brazilian case

• Autor(a) principal: Reis, Elisa Maria Pereira
• Data de Publicação: 1988
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Estudos Históricos (Rio de Janeiro)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.fgv.br/reh/article/view/2166

This article examines the concept of nation-state from an analytical angle which stresses the ideological dimension. It is argued that as a constructed reality, a nation affords the ideological reconciliation of bureaucratic domination and social solidarity typical of modern national states. The initial theoretical discussion calls attention to the historical-processual nature of building a national state and criticizes the inappropriateness of applying one single model to account for this process; however, it defends the usefulness of alternative models which allow us to compare types of rocesses and at times to establish generalizations concerning these. The article moves on to illustrate the use of the theoretical outlook as sketched, examining the Brazilian historical experience in building a national state. The third and last section briefly explores some implications of the evolution of the nation-state in Brazil, implications which the author considers crucial aspects which need to be confronted by a democratizing process.