Modern elites in transition to the periphery of peripheral capitalism - Engineers, economists and businessmen in Minas Gerais and the perception of relations between the nation and the region within the scope of Brazilian economic modernization (1930-1970)

ABSTRACT

Relations between the nation and the region became progressively more important among the technical and business elites in the state of Minas Gerais during the period of economic modernization in Brazil (1930-1970). An ever more refined understanding was developed of the factors that governed the formation and reproduction of regional imbalances, and which were responsible for the relative lag of the economy of Minas. In association journals (Associação Comercial de Minas e Federação das Indústrias do Estado de Minas Gerais), professional journals (Sociedade Mineira de Engenheiros) and academic journals (Faculdade de Ciências Econômicas - UFMG), engineers, economists and businessmen presented studies and reflections that demonstrated the unequal and concentrative nature of Brazilian development. These studies also showed the affirmation of the growing peripheral nature of the regional economy and the claim for intervention by state and federal governments, through policies that promoted the development of the interior and confirmed the legitimacy of regionally correcting the contradictions of national economic modernization.

Keywords:
Minas Gerais; Economic modernization; Regional inequalities; Technical and business elites; Regionalism