Book Review: The Life of Joaquim Nabuco
| Author | William Krehme |
| Date | 01 September 1951 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070205100600324 |
| Published date | 01 September 1951 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
258
INTERNATTONAL
JOURNAL
compromise
on
many
points
rather
than
have
the
State
force
their
hands
by
creating
legislation.
Another
aspect
of
the
Swedish
works
Committees
is
the
relatively
unimportant
part
they
play
in
the
country's
industrial
life.
They
are,
M.
L6ger
says,
more
"means
of
contact" between
labour and
manage-
ment
than
an
instrument
for
control
and
action
by
the
workers.
M.
L~ger
also shows
that
to
understand
the
functioning
and
the
principles
which
led
to
the
Saltsj6baden
Agreement
it
is
necessary
first
to
have a
clear
view
of
political
and
social
conditions
in
Sweden.
These
conditions
are
seldom
sufficiently
closely
examined
by
outside
experts
to
be
properly
understood.
This
is
the
case
with
regard
to
the
part
played by
social-democracy.
"Essentially,"
M.
L6ger
says,
"the
programme
of
Swedish
Social-
Democracy may
be
summarized
in
the
following
points:
State control
of
important
branches
of
industry,
organisation
of
the
workers
into
producers'
unions
and
consumers'
unions,
control
of
the
State
over
pro-
duction.
But
this
does
not
mean
that
Sweden
is
a
socialist
country
as
is
often
believed
abroad.
The
programme
of
Sweden's
Social
Democracy
is
still
a
programme
and
not
much
else.
Swedes
of
all
classes
are
still
strong
individualists. They
stick
to
tradition
and
fear
State
interference
in
the
country's
economy.
Developments
in
Sweden
during
the
last
ten
years
have
been
more
towards
'americanism'
than
towards
socialism.
Sweden
is
at present
a
strictly
capitalistic
country
with
very
concen-
trated
industrial
concerns
whose
functioning
is
hardly
affected
by
'un
debut
de
contr6le
6tatique.'
"
Finally,
M.
L6ger
gives
a
warning
to
those
who would
imitate
or
transplant
principles
and
methods
successfully
applied
in
Sweden
into
a
different
soil.
"Le
climat
pr6alable" has much
to
do
with the
success
of
industrial
democracy
in
Sweden.
The
Swedish
system,
he
adds, is
,'more
the
result
of
practical
experiment
than
the
application
of
a
theory."'
Stockholm.
Yves
du
Gueony
THE
LIFE
OF
JOAQUIm
NABUCO.
By
Carolina
Nabuco.
1950.
(Stan-
ford:
Stanford University
Press.
xxv,
373
pp.
$5.00
U.S.)
In
broad
terms
of
comparison
Nabuco
could
be
described
as
the
Brazilian
Lincoln.
More
than
any
other
single
person,
he
was responsi-
ble
for
the
freeing
of
the Brazilian
slaves
in
1889.
Yet
he
at
no
time
headed
a
government
or
even
occupied
a
cabinet
post.
He
was
an
apostle
rather
than
a
politician,
and
only
by
raking
tip
the
conscience
of
a
nation,
was
he
eventually
able
to
bend
the
politicians
to
his
bidding.
At
the height
of
the
anti-slavery
campaign,
his
popularity
was
such
that
new
flowers
and
dance
tunes
were
named
after
him, and
his
picture
appeared
on
beer
and
cigar
labels.
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