Coffee, Contention, and Change in the Making of Modern Brazil

This book aims to confront traditional theories of economic development which emphasize the role of export elites in directing political and social changes within the nation. Looking specifically at the export (coffee) elites of Sao Paulo, Brazil during the critical period around the 1919 revolution, Font documents important intra–elite conflicts. Font aims to demonstrate how an alternative agrarian economy of small and medium landholders challenged the supposed hegemony of large landholders during this period. He draws from this picture broader implications about export economies and their diverse effects on host countries.