Abstract

This research addresses the relationship of agriculture and industry in the process of capital accumulation in Brazil from the late twenties through the early sixties. It is an exploration of the dynamics of the intersectional linkages during the period and of the effects of state policies on those dynamics. It was shown that while Brazilian agriculture performed its five traditional functions throughout the period from 1930 to 1960, its performance was not a history of steady progress on each front. During the fifties the five functions appeared to contain internal contradictions which were associated with the establishment of the durable consumption and heavy capital goods industries. The state policies were seen as reinforcing those contradictions, which contributed to the crisis in the Brazilian economy of the early sixties.