Alexandre Fortes

Alexandre Fortes will dedicate his stay at CASBS to studying the impact of the Second World War on Latin American nationalism, with a primary focus on Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina. His previous works on the Brazilian case have demonstrated that the intensification of the struggle between the great powers, which progressively drew different parts of the world into the diverse dimensions of total war, generated significant opportunities and risks for peripheral nation-states. On the other hand, engagement in the “international ideological civil war” between fascists and anti-fascists boosted subaltern struggles to make good on promises of economic development and social rights. His current project combines contributions from various historiographical fields and approaches to revisit a critical period in Latin American history. It also aims to contribute to the ongoing debate on the current global resurgence of nationalism. 

Fortes is a professor of history at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ) in Brazil. His primary research areas are labor history and social movements. He has experience as a historical collections manager and is a founding member of the Graduate Program in Digital Humanities at UFRRJ. His most recent book is The Second World War and the Rise of Mass Nationalism in Brazil: Class, Race, and Citizenship (Springer Nature, 2024).