ABSTRACT

Brazil was one of the last countries in Latin America to achieve Independence from its European metropolis in 1822. It was the only country on the continent to implement a monarchy. It was also one of the last countries to eliminate slavery, in 1888, and to adopt a republican regime. The Brazilian Republic emerged in 1889 as the result of a military mobilization that deposed Emperor Dom Pedro II, while a bewildered population just looked on (Lobo 1889). Given the military’s lack of a political project and the absence of any popular mobilization, positivist thinkers assumed greater relevance and, somewhat belatedly, put the ideals of Auguste Comte (1798-1857) into practice. The central theme of positivism reads, “Love as principle, order as basis, progress as end.” Comte’s Brazilian followers simply stamped “Order and Progress” on the national ag.