Mintz, Brazil´s interpreter
As scholars interested in Brazil´s History, we would like to express our homage to an important interpreter of American worlds, whose work is fundamental for a better understanding of our country.
Professor Mintz, with his long experience of sugar producing Caribbean, brought fundamental aspects to our understanding. For the first time, he revealed the close correspondence of destiny between the peoples of the Caribbean and Brazil, colonized and reduced to slavery in order to provide sugar to the proletarians of the industrial revolution in Europe,large numbers of men and women – parents and meal providers – mobilized in large plants.
Within a capitalistic world economy, Professor Mintz contributed to save non-european spaces from axiomatic subalternity to which they were condemned by eurocentrism in History. He revealed how much they are modern, before Europe itself, since they saw the birth of plantations, those factories in the field. Such perspective changes profoundly Latin American conception of our history in as much as it puts us in the position of being capable of defining its own historicity.
Through an interdisciplinary approach – joining with brilliance Anthropology with Sociology, History and Geography – Professor Mintz managed to show the complexities in the condition of workers who were producing sugar. His work Sweetness and Power – which is not yet translated into Portuguese, in spite of our asking, with the help and support of the author – undermines the naturalization of historical phenomenon.
He rightly valued the sophisticated actions of deported, exiled populations, reduced to slavery and subject to the most extreme oppression and exploration. His analysis of commercial circuits, peasant´s breach, as well as cultural achievements is pioneer and opens new perspectives for Brazilian and world historiography.
Away from ready-made categories, Professor Mintz´s thorough analysis of historical and anthropological documents, allows the reader to become familiar with the life of these workers, giving us a sense of closeness that deals with the feats of daily resistance, as well as the suffering of sacrificed lives. His great biography of Taso (a book which gave him much pride, being once more a pioneer at a very difficult task) shows the author´s sensitivity and capacity to concentrate on a historical person while, at the same time, describing a whole class.
Joining boldness in thought and methodology, Professor Mintz turns the world more comprehensive. He inserts the story of persons into world economy. He shares his own experiences as those related to heavy physical work in the sugar cane fields, as well as leaves his mark in the “light” academic work, achieving distinguished results in administration of proof, description, scale of observation, so that the phenomenon he analyses attains its whole meaning.
His style in writing teaches us the good academic tradition: association of elements which belong to his demonstration, in a direct manner, without ambiguity; great clarity in exposing his challenging and illuminating ideas; daring proposals of explanation; new associations of facts, ideas, tendencies as in Tasting food, tasting freedom.
Towards his translators, Professor Mintz always showed the utmost generosity, granting us complete attention with gentleness and friendly approach. Gave us advice, answering with great speed in case of dilemmas, as well as keeping up the requirement of quality and exactness.
Professor Mintz tought us and encouraged us to rethink topics, revealing and questioning assumptions, looking for explanations, but essentially, as he puts it, asking always better questions, the overall ambition of Human Sciences whose actor he featured – and continues through his work - as one of the most eminent.
Christine Rufino Dabat (Professor de História – UFPE. Tradutora)
Caio Augusto Maciel (Professor de Geografia – UFPE. Tradutor)
Raíssa Orestes Carneiro (Mestra em História – UFPE. Tradutora)
José Marcelo Marques Ferreira Filho (Professor de História - UEAL. Tradutor)
Isabelle Velay Rufino (Advogada, revisora)
Renata Conceição Santos Nobrega (Mestranda em História - UFRPE)
Espedito Rufino de Araújo (Economista)
Bruna Fernandes Teixeira Cavalcanti (Mestranda em História - UFPE)
Albino Mário Santos Dantas (Professor, Bacharel História - UFPE)
Fernanda Cornils Monteiro Benevides (Professora, Doutoranda - UNB)
Emanuel Moraes Lima dos Santos (Técnico-Administratico em Educação e Mestrando em História - UFPE)
Camila Maria de Araújo Melo (Mestranda em História - UFPE)
Michel Gomes da Rocha (Pós-graduando - USP)
Rodrigo Barreto Campelo Bione (Professor, Licenciado em História - UFPE)
Edmundo Cunha Monte Bezerra (Doutorando História - UFBA)
Maria do Socorro de Abreu e Lima (Professora História - UFPE)
Rafael Leite Ferreira (Doutorando em História - UFPE)
Júlio César Pessoa de Barros (Professor IFPE, Mestre em História - UFPE)
Angélica Alencar (Doutoranda em História Japonesa - Sophia University, Tóquio )
Arthur Victor Gonçalvez Gomes de Barros (Mestrando em História - UFPE)
Davi Costa Aroucha (Mestrando em História - UFPE)
Isabella Puente de Andrade (Graduanda em História - UFPE)
Renata Borba Cahú Siqueira (Graduanda em História - UFPE)
George Felix Cabral (Professor de História - UFPE)
Marcela Heráclio Bezerra (Mestra em História - UFPE, Técnica em Assuntos Educacionais - IFPE)
José Bento Rosa da Silva (Professor de História - UFPE)
Rômulo Nascimento (Professor de História - UFPE)
Juliana de Andrade (Professora de História - UFRPE)
Cristiano Luis Christillino (Professor de História - UEPB)
Darlan de Oliveira Reis Jr (Professor de História - URCA)
Helmara Giccelli (Professora, Doutoranda em História - UFPE)
Luciana Varejão (Professora, Mestra em História - UFPE)
Bruno Veras (Professor, Mestre em História - UFBA)
Bruna Hanny Benning (Professora, Mestre em História - UFPE)
Victor Hugo Luna Peres (Professor, Mestre em História - UFPE)
Maria do Carmo Oliveira (Graduanda em História - UFPE)
Mateus de Sá Barreto Barros (Doutorando DIVERSITAS - USP)
Osvaldo Maciel (Professor de História – UFAL)
Lucas Mendonça (Graduando em História - UFPE)
Eltern Campina Vale (Professor de História – UFAL)
Samuel Carvalheira de Maupeou (Professor de História - UECE)
Ana Karolina Pinto da Silva (Licenciada em História - UFPE)
Rafael Leite Ferreira (Doutorando em História - UFPE)
Paulo Fontes (Professor da Escola de Ciências Sociais da Fundação Getúlio Vargas- CPDOC/FGV)
Maria José Carvalho (Bibliotecária Faculdade de Direito. Mestranda em História - UFPE)
Bertrand Cozic (Professor Adjunto em Geografia PPGEO/DCG/CFCH/UFPE)
Tiago Bernardon de Oliveira (Professor de História - UFPB)
Maria Helena Pereira Toledo Machado (Professora Titular. Departamento de História - USP)
Leônio Alves (Professor de Direito - UFPE)
Ana Cristina Fernandes (Professora de Geografia – UFPE)
Regina Beatriz Guimarães Neto. (Professora de História - UFPE)
Antônio Torres Montenegro (Professor de História - UFPE)
Raquel Torres da Costa e Silva (Bacharel e Licenciada em História - UFPE)
Deuzuwilma Galvão (Bacharel em História - UFPE)
Luciana Rodrigues da Costa (Mestre em Desenvolvimento e Meio Ambiente – UFPE)
Thomas D. Rogers (Associate Professor of History - Emory University)´
Mariana Momesso (Mestre PRODEMA - UFPE)
Marc Jay Hoffnagel (Professor PPGH – UFPE)
Jonatas Lins Duarte (Mestrando em História – UFPE)
Maria do Socorro Ferraz Barbosa (Professora PPGH UFPE)
