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Alternatives to the development: the debate is opened
Since its establishment in 1979, the Instituto de Estudos Socioeconômicos (Inesc) has worked in initiatives that aim at enhancing the Brazilian democracy. Currently, all the projects developed by Inesc deal with two main lines of action: Strengthening the civil society and expanding the social participation in forums to debate public policies. In a dispute of ideas and the public debate, whether through publications or social interventions, the budgetary tool is the basic axis to enhance and promote citizenship.
If on one hand the discussion about economy, budgetary revenue and the monitoring of public investments under the social light is not a new action for Inesc, one can identify that along its path Inesc bets on a development model capable of ensuring to Brazil opportunities for the sustainable growth. That is its main strategy, although such concern is spread among different projects and initiatives. From 2003 on, when the country renewed its hopes in a Govern-ment that seemed to have power enough to promote structural changes, Inesc succeeded in gathering, in different events – seminars, workshops and deeper studies with other organizations – all the debates held about a way to reversing the logic of “growing first and distributing later.”
In that sense, and trying to expand the impact of its action on the debate, Inesc held the seminar “Thinking an agenda to Brazil: Challenges and perspec-tives.” The document was conceived to foster discussions and generate inputs about alternative development models that could serve as a counterpoint to the current hegemonic neo-liberal model. A model that places more and more em-phasis on economic aspects, in detriment to social aspects.
The meeting was held in Brasilia, from June 26 to 27, 2007, and was divided into four blocks: Development models; participation and social control; human rights and imbalances; and international policy. It rested on the participation of academics and representatives of the civil society organizations with re-nowned experience in the matter.
Inesc also wants to fight the false idea that there is no feasible proposal to a different development model. Publications, meetings held and others yet to be held are some tools that help expanding and bringing other voices to the debate. Nonetheless, those tools cannot be perceived as mere new means of for-mulating models. It is not about replacing a given model by another. Inesc – and its partner organizations and networks, as well – intend to formulate as many models as required to ensure the country’s growth with economic sustainabil-ity and, above all, social sustainability.
Following are some articles presented in the seminar, which were gathered in a publication organized by Atila Roque and Luciana Costa. The publication is a mandatory reading to whoever wants to know, beyond the news in the press, the path of the debate on development at different spaces in the Brazilian society. By providing a tool capable of expanding the debate, Inesc also wants to build awareness among the society, letting it know “what can be changed in real life”. To reach that goal, Inesc wants to hear the voices and bring to the debate those sectors that are typically left aside the real forums of decision in public policies.
1 The lecturers were João Sicsú, of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Célia Lessa, of the Uni-versidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Lucia Avelar, of the Universidade de Brasília (UnB), Chico de Oliveira, of the Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Sueli Carneiro, of the NGO Geledés, Sílvia Ramos, of the Centro de Estudos de Segurança e Cidadania da Universidade Cândido Mendes (CESeC/Ucam), Paulo Carbonari, of the Movimento Nacional de Direitos Humanos (MNDH), Maria Regina Soares, of the Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro (Iuperj), and Adhemar Mineiro, of the Rede Brasileira pela Integração dos Povos (Rebrip). Inesc was represented by Eliana Graça, José Antônio Moroni, Atila Roque and Iara Pietricovsky de Oliveira, who served as moderators.
