Social Change in Brazil Through Innovations and Social Movements

Abstract

Social innovations and changes in educational systems are the cornerstones for success of emerging countries. Current developments in Brazil and heterogeneity of society make the country a perfect candidate to investigate these topics. Drawing on historical analysis and content analysis, the author builds a model that recognizes patterns of social change. This model enables to analyze social change through the interaction of radical changes, innovations, social movements, and reforms. This model is applied to two periods in Brazil, where social movements, like the revolution in the 1930s and the military coup in the 1960s, triggered a series of social changes. The findings of this study suggest that social change is a cyclical process where social innovations and educational change are involved. These findings have significant implications for our understanding of current changes in the Brazilian society and provide a key instrument for analyzing social change in other societies.