O pensamento político de Alberto Pasqualini e a trajetória do trabalhismo no Brasil (1945- 1964)

Abstract

The present dissertation seeks to analyze the ideas of Alberto Pasqualini (1903–1960), politician, intellectual, and the main representative of labourism in Brazil, as well as the trajectory of labourist thought between 1954 and 1964. As the main ideologue of the Brazilian Labor Party (PTB) and known for articulating various theoretical influences, Pasqualini was responsible for the programmatic formulation that guided PTB’s political action during the Liberal Republic period (1945–1964), influencing the proposal of reforms to address the country’s structural challenges.The main objective of this research is to investigate Pasqualini’s thought and demonstrate how his ideas shaped Brazilian labourism in a political context where national-developmentalism was imposed as an inescapable postulate, as well as to analyze the appropriations of labourism after Pasqualini’s death. Thus, the aim is to understand how his theoretical formulations interacted with the dilemmas of the period and contributed to consolidating a programmatic strand within the PTB that, even after his death, served as a paradigm guiding the party’s political directions.Methodologically, the research is based on linguistic contextualism, understanding that the comprehension of an author’s writings must be considered in light of the context in which they were produced, and also on discursive institutionalism, which assumes that ideas shape the actions of individuals and institutions. The results demonstrate that, although difficult to categorize, Pasqualini’s political thought during the period between 1945 and 1953 represents a moment of close connection with the English political tradition, through labourism. Such a bond enabled his insertion into the intellectual and political debate on national developmentalism, contributing originally with an alternative that, contrasting with the radicalisms of the time, sought to combine social reforms through the democratic regime.Furthermore, this work highlights that the labourism formulated by Pasqualini constituted a theoretical paradigm for the PTB, appropriated by two major strands that, although antagonistic, sought legitimacy as continuators of the labor tradition initiated by Pasqualini.