STATE RETREAT, GOVERNANCE AND METROPOLITAN RESTRUCTURING IN BRAZIL

This paper discusses the ongoing process of urban restructuring in Bra zil. it argues that the 1980s marks historically the demise of the pat tern of state intervention in urban areas that was established under t he military regime (1964-85). The relationships between the ongoing ur ban restructuring and the broader processes of economic stagnation and of rebuilding of democratic institutions is explored with a focus on the fragmentation of interests and low institutionalization of the pol itical system. This latter theme is examined empirically in connection to the fiscal collapse of urban and housing policy. The points of con vergence and divergence with processes of urban restructuring in the a dvanced capitalist societies is also discussed.