BACKGROUND OF THE BRAZILIAN RACIAL DILEMMA

Abstract

This article aims to discuss the genesis of the notion of the Brazilian racial dilemma in the thought of Florestan Fernandes, developed from the 1950s onward and revisited throughout his intellectual trajectory in his effort to unveil the dynamics of racial relations within Brazilian society. Guided by a diachronic reading that moves away from the concept of a “finished work,” this study focuses on the initial phase of the formulation of the racial dilemma, which was still embedded in the research project Racial Prejudice in São Paulo. This project laid the foundation for the UNESCO study in São Paulo, coordinated by Roger Bastide and Florestan Fernandes, with its initial findings presented in Racial Relations between Whites and Blacks in São Paulo (1955). Although this work is limited to a preliminary stage of the research, we believe that an exegetical analysis of this material – considering a diachronic perspective and incorporating documents from Florestan Fernandes' archives – can help refine established interpretations of racial issues in his thought. Additionally, it contributes to reconstructing the dialogue between academic sociologists and Black intellectuals, a topic that has become one of the most recent research agendas in Brazilian social sciences.