Espírito Santo's electrical development, state capacities and the role of modernizing elites between 1946 and 1964

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the processes that were at the basis of the electrification of the state of Espírito Santo, between the years 1946 and 1964. Two dynamics will be treated in a special way here: the strong presence of the National State as a driver of national development in the period and the fundamental role of regional modernizing elites, especially Espírito Santo, for planning, political articulation, and implementation of policies for the electricity sector. We will also try to point out how national state development, regional political forces and electricity reveal themselves in dimensions that assume their final form under the coordination of the national state, within the construction of their regional “capacities”. This research is developed from data obtained during a PhD at PUC-Rio, defended in May 2021.