John D French, Faculty of Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Professor of History

An historian of modern Latin America with a specialization in Brazil, my most recent book entitled Drowning in Laws: Labor Law and Brazilian Political Culture was published in 2004. I was on residential fellowships at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2005-06) and at the Kellogg Institute at Notre Dame (Spring 2007)to work on my book entitled "The Origin of Brazil's Lula: From Trade Unionism to the Presidency." I am also finishing on a book entitled "Globalizing Protest and Policy: Neo-Liberalism, Worker Rights, and the Rise of Alt-Global Politics" that reflects ongoing research labor and globalization. Other research projects under development inclues "The Potential of Diasporic Dialogue: The Intersection of Afro-North America and Afro-Latin America in the Twentieth Century." I have received major fellowships from: Fulbright-Hays (1981-1982, 2000), Inter-American Foundation (1981-83), Social Science Research Council (1981-83, 1991) the National Humanities Center (1995-96), the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2005-2006), and the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame (Spring 2007). In addition, my external grants include: American Philosophical Society (1998), American Council of Learned Societies (1991), National Endowment for the Humanities (1998, 1991), National Historical Publications and Records Commission (1998-2000) and North-South Center (1994) Since 1984, I have been co-coordinator of the Latin American Labor History Conference held in April of each year at Duke, and I served as Director of the Duke Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies from 2001 to December 2005, and as Director of the Carolina and Duke Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies 2002-05. I also serve as Associate Editor for Latin America and the Caribbean for the journal Labor: Studies in Working Class History of the Americas, under its new editor Leon Fink (University of Illinois-Chicago).

Contact Info:

Office Location:	223 Carr Bldg., Box 90719
Office Phone:	(919) 684-2536
Email Address:

Teaching (Spring 2010):

• HISTORY 170C.01, AFRO-BRAZIL CULTURE/HST Synopsis

  Friedl Bdg 107, TuTh 11:40 AM-12:55 PM

• HISTORY 340S.01, COLONIAL/IMPERIAL AFRO-BRAZ

  Carr 135, Th 06:00 PM-08:30 PM

Education:

PhD	Yale University	1985
MA	University of Pittsburgh	1978
BA (Magna cum laude)	Amherst College	1975

Specialties:

Latin America
Caribbean, Brazil
19th and 20th Centuries
Gender
Politics
African diaspora
Transnational
Women

Research Interests:

Current projects: Since 1984, I have been co-coordinator of the Latin American Labor History Conference held in April of each year at Duke, and I served as Director of the Duke Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies from 2001 to December 2005, and as Director of the Carolina and Duke Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies 2002-05. I also serve as Associate Editor for Latin America and the Caribbean for the journal Labor: Studies in Working Class History of the Americas, under its new editor Leon Fink (University of Illinois-Chicago).

An historian of modern Latin America with a specialization in Brazil, my most recent book entitled Drowning in Laws: Labor Law and Brazilian Political Culture was published in 2004. I was on residential fellowships at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2005-06) and at the Kellogg Institute at Notre Dame (Spring 2007)to work on my book entitled "Lula's Politics of Cunning: From Trade Unionism to the Presidency in Brazil." I am also finishing on a book entitled "Globalizing Protest and Policy: Neo-Liberalism, Worker Rights, and the Rise of Alt-Global Politics" that reflects ongoing research labor and globalization. I have also organized an international research conference at Duke on 27-28 May 2008 on “Nurturing Hope, Deepening Democracy, and Combating Inequalities: An Assessment of Lula’s Presidency” with major funding from Duke and Brazilian sources.

Keywords:

Brazil • WTO • labor • transnationalism • African diaspora • Lula • PT

Curriculum Vitae

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

1. J.D. French, Question and Answer on comments by Brazilian President Lula at the International Labor Organization regarding labor, the G-20, and global crisis, Latin American Advisor [Inter-American Dialogue, Washington, DC) (August 24, 2009), pp. 4 [PDF]
2. J.D. French, Obama e o desafio pós-neoliberal [Obama and the Neo-Liberal Challenge], Teoria e Debate (São Paulo) no. 81 (April, 2009) [article.php] [PDF] [abs]
3. J.D. French, Understanding the Politics of Latin America’s Plural Lefts (Chávez/Lula): Social Democracy, Populism, and Convergence on the Path to a Post-Neoliberal World, Third World Quarterly, vol. 30 no. 2 (March, 2009), pp. 349-370 [01436590802681090]
4. J.D. French, Resenha de To Inherit the Earth: The Landless Movement and the Struggle for a New Brazil, Mundos do Trabalho no. 2 (2009), pp. 282-285 [PDF]
5. J.D. French, Os Trabalhos Arquivísticos Voltado ao Mundo dos Trabalhadores: Avanços e Desafios em América Latina desde 1992, in O Mundo dos Trabalhadores e seus Arquivos, edited by José Antonio Marques & Inez Terezinha Stampa (2009), pp. 83-101, Arquivo Nacional/CUT [PDF]