Wanderley Guilherme dos Santos (1935- )
His Christian name suggested that there might have been some Dutch ancestry in his past, although I never confirmed it. It was quite possible, because the Dutch had colonized a portion of the northeastern Brazilian coast in the seventeenth century.
Wanderley was one of the most creative political scientists I knew in Brazil. He was especially insightful on the development of socio-political thoughts in Brazil. His work on President Vargas and corporatism was especially enlightening.
He was the kind of scholar who could be especially helpful as I was trying to integrate the two disciplines of history and political science in the understanding of my newly adopted land.
I thought Wanderley was the kind of academic who would mix well with the faculty and students back at the University of Wisconsin, so when he got a grant I arranged for him and his family to spend several semesters in Madison. He was a great success. These exchanges were a way to enrich our Brazilian Studies Program and to maintain friendships I had developed in Brazil.
Wanderley was a passionate nationalist. I learned that again (to my pain) when we were both on a national academic forum in Rio. Wanderley began the evening with a fusillade against me as a representative of an alien power in his country (Calma, sempre, calma no Brasil). I tried to deflect his attack by explaining how influential his work had been on me and other U.S. scholars—he was disparaging. Fortunately I got some scattered applause from the large audience.
Sometimes when you’re abroad you need a thick skin.
Further Readings
Santos, Wanderley Guilherme dos. Cidadania e justiça: a política social na ordem brasileira. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Campus, 1979.
Santos, Wanderley Guilherme dos. Paradoxos do liberalismo: teoria e história. Rio de Janeiro: Revan, 1999.
Santos, Wanderley Guilherme dos. Horizonte do desejo: instabilidade, fracasso coletivo e inércia social. 1a. ed. Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: FGV Editora, 2006.
Wanderley Guilherme dos Santos was born in the city of Rio de Janeiro. In 1958, he graduated with a degree in philosophy from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and earned his doctorate in political science from Stanford University in 1979. He later founded the University Research Institute of Rio de Janeiro (IUPERJ) and worked at the school as a professor of political theory. He published many books about the social sciences, including Décadas de Espanto e uma Apologia Democrática (1998) and Roteiro Bibliográfico do Pensamento Político-Social Brasileiro (2002). Due to his literary contributions, he received the Victor Nunes Leal Award from the Brazilian Association of Political Science.