These essays on Brazilian performance culture comprise the first English-language book to study the varied manifestations of performance in and beyond Brazil, from carnival and capoeira to gender acts, curatorial practice, and political protest.

Tourists exult in Bahia, Brazil, as a tropical paradise infused with the black population's one-of-a-kind vitality. But the alluring images of smiling black faces and dancing black bodies masks an ugly reality of anti-black authoritarian violence. Christen A. Smith argues that the dialectic of glorified representations of black bodies and subsequent state repression reinforces Brazil's racially hierarchal society. Interpreting the violence as both institutional and performative, Smith follows a grassroots movement and social protest theater troupe in their campaigns against racial violence. As Smith reveals, economies of black pain and suffering form the backdrop for the staged, scripted, and choreographed afro-paradise that dazzles visitors. The work of grassroots organizers exposes this relationship, exploding illusions and asking unwelcome questions about the impact of state violence performed against the still-marginalized mass of Afro-Brazilians. Based on years of field work, Afro-Paradise is a passionate account of a long-overlooked struggle for life and dignity in contemporary Brazil.

Drawing on an eclectic array of research and evaluative studies culled from a mix of sources, this volume analyzes Brazilian hospital performance along several policy dimensions including resource allocation and use within hospitals, hospital payment mechanisms, organizational and governance arrangements, management practices, and regulation and quality. An agenda for hospital reform is proposed which synthesizes priorities that are integral to improving hospital performance-and which should be considered for implementation in the near and medium term.

Over several centuries, the Xavante of Central Brazil have maintained an invincible sense of identity and feeling of control over historical processes, despite repeated invasions by colonists and settlers, capitalist commercial ventures, and most recently, an enormous government-sponsored agricultural project. In this discourse-centered study, Laura Graham explores how the Xavante use the ritual performance of myths and dreams to maintain their culture despite these disruptive forces. At the heart of the book is an extraordinary performance, in which a community elder tells his dream of an encounter with the creators. Graham analyzes the various components of his performance--narrative, myth-telling, song, and dance--and considers the entire community's participation in the preparations, rehearsal, and public performance of the dream, including their adaption to her presence and modern technologies. From this analysis, Graham demonstrates how the practice of myth-telling is an essential element in cultural continuity and the creation of social memory and how it also provides a kind of immortality for the myth-teller. Her findings will be of interest not only to students of South American cultures and linguistics but also to everyone intrigued by the role of myth and dreams in social life and social change.

As “market referees”, regulators contribute to the delivery of essential public utilities. Their organisational culture, behaviour, actions and governance are important factors in how they, and the sectors they oversee, perform.

Focus: Music of Northeast Brazil examines the historical and contemporary manifestations of the music of Brazil, a country with a musical landscape that is layered with complexity and diversity. Based on the author’s field research during the past twenty years, the book describes and analyzes the social/historical contexts and contemporary musical practices of Afro-Brazilian religion, selected Carnival traditions, Bahia’s black cultural renaissance, the traditions of rural migrants, and currents in new popular music. Part One, Understanding Music in Brazil, presents important issues and topics that encompass all of Brazil, and provides a general survey of Brazil’s diverse musical landscape. Part Two, Creating Music in Brazil, presents historical trajectories and contemporary examples of Afro-Brazilian traditions, Carnival music, and northeastern popular music. Part Three, Focusing In, presents two case studies that explore the ground-level activities of contemporary musicians in Northeast Brazil and the ways in which they move between local, national, and international realms. The accompanying downloadable resources offer vivid musical examples that are discussed in the text

This report is the first OECD review of Brazil’s environmental performance. It evaluates progress towards sustainable development and green growth, with a focus on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and protected areas.