The contradiction between maintaining an orthodox economic policy and the expectations of generating conditions for development and social inclusion have marked Lula’s first year of governing, subordinating all public policies to the logic of inflation control, public debt payment and increased credibility in the international market.

This continuity in the macro-economic sphere contrasts with the innovative initiatives applied in foreign policy, directed at defending the country’s national autonomy and regional leadership within the framework of a diplomatic strategy orientated towards strengthening the alternative poles of power to balance out the unilateralism of U.S. foreign policy. While 2003 was characterised by the predominance of the economic sphere over the social sphere, one of the main challenges of the government for 2004 is to carry out its announced programme of social reforms to reduce the social exclusion and inequality characteristic of Brazilian society.

Alberto Arce (Member of the Globalisation Observatory, University of Barcelona), José Cesar Castanhar (Lecturer at the Brazilian School of Public Administration and Business, Getúlio Vargas Foundation), Antón Costas (Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Barcelona), Eli Diniz (Permanent Lecturer in the Institute of Economics at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), Sonia Fleury (Lecturer at the Brazilian School of Public Administration and Business, Getúlio Vargas Foundation and member of the Lula Administration’s Council for Economic and Social Development), Rafael Grasa (Permanent Lecturer in International Relations and Vice-Rector of the Autonomous University of Barcelona), Ferran Requejo (Professor in the Department of Social and Political Sciences, Pompeu Fabra University) and Brasilio Verduzco (Institute for Economic and Regional Studies - INESER, University of Guadalajara, Mexico).

161 pp.

ISSN: 1133-6595

Place an order with Edicions Bellaterra