IMAGE AND SOCIAL REPRESENTATION OF AFRICA IN BRAZIL: THE AFRICAN GEOPOLITICS OF THE LULA GOVERNMENT

Abstract

Africa is a constituent part of our national formation, but this perspective is not well understood by brazilians who tend to underestimate these ancestors relationships. Because of the lack of knowledge, the image that prevailed from Africa was marked by the legacy of slavery, violence, backwardness and poverty. On the other hand, since the 1970s, Africa has been seen as a "moving frontier" of Brazil in its geopolitical projection in the South Atlantic. In the Lula government context, the expansion of the brazilian “eastern frontier” occurs in tune with the strong economic growth in Africa, enabling the conquest of markets and the international provision for the country with the opening of new communities in the continent. While creating opportunities for Brazilian companies to operate in the continent, the Lula government sought to promote, internally, social policies aimed at alleviating the country's "historical debt" to Africa. In this new guideline of brazilian african politics, the perspective of building a social representation of Africa converges with the image of the enslaved African worker and its importance for the civilizational development of Brazil.