Review by Choice Review
Since 2001, the Brazilian state has legally forgotten the crimes of or potential criminal charges against 40,000 Brazilians through a process of amnesty. Many have received payments and pensions based on job positions lost and salaries unearned. In tracing amnesty's origins from the First Brazilian Republic (1889--1930) to its bureaucratization in the Estado Novo (1937--45) and its three-decade expansion after the military regime (1964--85), Schneider asks whether amnesty brought justice to Brazil. Paradoxically, she gives examples of reconciliation and reparation and explains how this protected the authors of state atrocities. In "forgetting" past violent actions, amnesty's effectiveness often depends more on the petitioner's position, privilege, and race than on whether violence was used by or against the state. This book should interest those studying law and human rights in Latin America. Of particular note for undergraduates, chapters 1 and 3 show how removed amnesty is from broad reparations, such as those the descendants of Brazil's many enslaved Africans deserve. In addition, chapter 8 paints a vivid picture of Victória Grabois, an anti-authoritarian revolutionary, and demonstrates how the same law that amnestied Grabois protected the state apparatus that killed her husband and father. Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty. --Ian W. Read, Soka University of America
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
