This is an award under the Grants for Improving Doctoral Dissertation Research program. It is a study of how intra-elite competition and alliances in the state of Pernambuco in the early 19th century influenced the development of the Brazilian state. The research involves documentary research in local and regional archives in Brazil. Results will be analyzed in terms of competing theories of state formation. This research will contribute to a rapidly-developing literature on the emergence of the modern nation state, providing data on how a centralized state emerges partly as a result of political competition and pressure from below, rather that simply through vigorous imposition from above. In addition to the scientific gains to be achieved by the research, this award will materially assist a highly promising student in completing research for the Ph.D. dissertation. Thus it contributes to the future scientific manpower of the national and the thorough training of the next generation of sociologists.
