ON PRINCIPLES: RICARDO BENZAQUEN AND SOCIAL THOUGHT

Abstract

This article aims to highlight Ricardo Benzaquen's contributions to social thought through a study of his analytical methods. It focuses mostly on his writings on integralism produced during the 1970s and 1980s and on the book Guerra e paz: Casa-grande & senzala e a obra de Gilberto Freyre nos anos 30 [War and Peace: The Masters and the Slaves and the Work of Gilberto Freyre in the 1930s], published in 1994. The article draws attention to the theoretical pressupositions and analytical procedures that frame the author's work, constituting Benzaquen's enduring contribution to the consolidation of the field of social thought. It thus resumes the avenues he pursued in defining a method of analysis that enriches the set of instruments available for reflection in this field.

Keywords Ricardo Benzaquen de Araújo; Plínio Salgado; Gilberto Freyre; social thought; race issue