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"Soft" slavery in Brazil: Was Gilberto Freyre right? This article examines the question of the supposedly benign character of Brazilian slavery, in contrast with slavery in North America. In economic analyses of slavery, coercion toward slaves is viewed as a means to achieve maximum output, especially in large-scale agriculture. In small slave holdings, however, coercion was generally inefficient for that purpose, and positive incentives tended to be preferred. It is argued that, as recent evidence on Brazil has shown that small slave holdings prevailed, in various regions and periods, this may lend empirical support to the notion of a relatively benign slavery, using more incentives than coercion. (Rev Econ Polit/GIGA)

In every country, behind the official law composed of the Constitution, statutes, rules edited by the Executive branch, and legal precedents, there is also another concealed regulation, based on the structure of ruling powers within society and legitimized by social mentality. Such duplicity of legal systems has always existed in Brazil. Apart from the official law, which follows valid civilization standards of countries that we consider to be culturally more advanced, there is a tacit law in force, whose role is to protect the interests of dominant social groups. This article illustrates this twofold reality of Brazilian law with the historical cases of slavery and democracy. In order to change this social structure, whose appearance does not reflect effective reality, the author highlights the need for a wide and continual denunciation of its illegitimacy. ; Em todos os países, por trás do direito oficial, composto pela Constituição, pelas leis, as normas editadas pelo Poder Executivo e os precedentes judiciais, existe sempre outro ordenamento encoberto, fundado na estrutura de poderes dominantes na sociedade e legitimados pela mentalidade social. No Brasil, essa duplicidade de regimes jurídicos sempre existiu. Além do direito oficial, que acompanha os padrões de civilização vigentes nos países que consideramos culturalmente mais avançados, vigora um direito não escrito, cuja função consiste em proteger os interesses dos grupos sociais dominantes. O artigo ilustra essa realidade bifronte do direito brasileiro com os casos históricos da escravidão e da democracia. Para mudança dessa estrutura social cuja aparência não condiz com a realidade efetiva, o autor sublinha a necessidade de uma ampla e contínua denúncia de sua ilegitimidade.