The lecture, titled "Inequality in Latin America: A Presidential Dialogue," will take place at 4 p.m. in Salomon 101. It is the inaugural event of the Watson Institute's Globalization and Inequality Initiative, a three year long effort that will include a lecture series, research and workshops focusing economic and social inequality in modern Latin America.
Cardoso was elected president of Brazil in 1995 and served for eight years, leaving office in 2003. As president, he developed an economic stabilization plan that successfully controlled inflation and is considered responsible for an increase in foreign investment in Brazil. He is also a well-known social scientist who helped develop dependency theory, a major line of thought in international relations. Since leaving politics, Cardoso has been critical of Brazil's current president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Lagos served as president of Chile from 2000 to 2006 and was the first socialist to win the presidency since Salvador Allende's government was overthrown by the military in 1973. Lagos is known for "aggressively pursuing free-trade agreements, improving healthcare and education legislation, and addressing the crimes of Augusto Pinochet's military regime," according to a Brown press release in May announcing Lagos' appointment as a professor-at-large.
"Presidents Cardoso and Lagos, as former heads of state from countries with very different experiences and realities dealing with questions of inequality, will discuss their own views of the current situation in Latin America vis-a-vis the development agenda," wrote Geoffrey Kirkman '91, associate director of the Watson Institute, in an e-mail to The Herald. "All members of the Brown community should benefit from hearing their unique insights, which should give us a good counterpart to the other coursework, research and policy outreach at the university."
The lecture is free and open to public.
