Sesc SP

Biotechnology – The production of genetically modified food in Brazil involves strong polemics. On the one hand companies that grow transgenic plants and sectors of government want to see them approved to be produced and marketed, alleging that there is no risk for the consumer health nor for the environment. On the other many experts allege that it is necessary to have more testing before making them available to the public, for the long-term effects are not known yet, as on human being health as on environment. Other restriction on transgenic plants has to do with the economic aspect: the fear that only a small number of powerful corporations would control the world’s food production.

Mining – It has been suspected that the exploitation of manganese in the Serra do Navio, in Amapa, northern Brazil, is causing severe damage to a nearby community. The methods of processing this metal would have removed arsenic from it, which reached the groundwater ant therefore contaminated the river from which the local people get their means of subsistence. The population has been examined in order to find the causes of children and adults high mortality rate.

Literature – In the 100th anniversary of her birthday, Cecilia Meireles is well remembered for her contribution to the poetry in Portuguese language. Known for her intense intellectual activity, she also worked in many fields such as education, journalism and folklore.

Environment – Cubatao, located in the state of Sao Paulo, once the most polluted city in the world, has been chosen as a site for a thermoelectric plant. Ecologists and population have been mobilized to fight the plant project approval, with the purpose of preventing the environment from being spoilt once more in an area already so much polluted.

Agrarian reform – The way of life established in a rural settlement (by former landless laborers) in the southern region of the state of Sao Paulo shows the relationships, the means of production and the prospects of a farming community.

Music – A brief history of the guitar and its entering Brazil. In the beginning considered as an essentially popular instrument, gradually it won a more intellectual audience, at last gaining the concert halls.

Penal system – The ineffectiveness of the legislation is one of the causes of the worrying rise in urban violence in Brazil. Only with an urgent penal reform will the country deal with the growing criminality effectively.

Economy – An expert analyzes the economic state in Brazil and Argentina, pointing out the errors and the virtues of the exchange-rate policy adopted by both countries. About the Mercosul, the Southern Common Market, he criticizes the lack of measures to stimulate the trade worldwide.