Tradição e modernidade no pensamento de Leandro Tocantins

Abstract

The dialectical cycles of expansion/contraction of capitalism in the Amazon during the twentieth century have left indelible marks on the cultural and social sphere. The rubber period was one of the most significant moments of this process, the economic values transacted in the apogee of rubber exploration turned Manaus and Belém in modern urban centers, equipped with infrastructure services that would come later to other Brazilian cities. The short time between the peak and decline of the rubber extraction was marked by a vigorous intellectual production, ranging from an optimistic view about the future of the region to the pessimism of the Amazon abandonment by the public power of the Union. Born in 1928, Leandro Tocantins, sought to understand the social change processes that led to the decline of the regional economy and at the same time signals a political strategy to put the region on the national political agenda. His intellectual production and political action moved gradually from the national developmentalism for the conservative modernization. In this sense, the concept of tradition and modernity in his thinking is intimately articulated to the intellectual role he played in the organization and direction of cultural, regional and national living.