Progresso e reforma social no Segundo Império: os fundamentos políticos e econômicos da democracia rural de André Rebouças (1860-1883)

Abstract

The trajectory of André Pinto Rebouças (1838–1898) offers a privileged starting point for understanding the political and economic impasses of the crisis of the Second Empire. Inserted in the 1870 movement, Rebouças combined criticism of the imperial status quo with the defense of the abolition of slavery and a project of social reform centered on the democratization of access to land and the limitation of the power of the agrarian elites. This research analyzes the political and economic foundations of Rural Democracy formulated in Agricultura Nacional (1883), situating André within his family, institutional, and professional context. It argues that his intellectual project does not constitute an abstract agrarian utopia, but a coherent proposal for redefining the conditions of citizenship, progress, and social integration in the Second Empire.