9632453 Nader Following Brazil's transition to democracy in 1984, the state's emphasis on citizenship and universalistic rights has led to policies seeking to modernize courtroom procedure and access. One result of these policies has been a federal mandate ordering the establishment of special small claims courts. States have established small claims courts which vary dramatically in their constitution and procedure. This research is a comparative ethnographic investigation of two urban Brazilian small claims courts that explores the relationship among civic discussions of rights and citizenship, adjudication, and judicial reform in Brazil. Specifically, the study examines the linkages between judicial deformalization in small claims court procedure and Brazilian conceptions of citizenship and rights. The two small claims courts chosen for the project differ considerably. One as not undergone procedural deformalization whereas the other has. The first phase of the project will begin with archival research specifically focusing on case records, political speeches, newspaper and journal articles, and the publications of local legal organizations. The goal of this phase of the research is to look for trends in litigation and establish the social domain of rights and citizenship discourse. The second phase will consist of courtroom observation and interviews with litigants, state officials, courtroom staff, administrators, and local legal agencies. This phase of the research is designed to document instances of citizenship and rights in practice and elicit ethnographic accounts of these social ideals. %%%%
