Confrontando o bem comum: Saúde pública, reformas urbanas e direito no Brasil moderno

In this talk, Pedro Cantisano gives us an overview of his current book project. He argues that early-twentieth-century public health and urban reforms changed the balance between individual rights and the common good in Brazil. Since the nineteenth century, the common good had justified slavery and inequalities. This exclusionary notion prevailed in the reformers’ vision for a modernized Rio de Janeiro, then national capital. Yet, a diverse group of people resisted reformist policies both on the streets and in courts. Wealthy property owners invoked individual rights against what they portrayed as a collectivist dictatorship. Tenants, both Black and migrant workers and small property owners pushed for an expansion of the common good. By claiming rights, they claimed a place as members of the collectivity.