Scandals, tsunamis, and ripples: Notes and disappointmentson a recurrent feature of the present

Abstract

According to Wikipedia, Brazil went through 97 political and financial scandals in the 1990s. In the first decade of this century, 125 of "those events" were recorded. Such listing seems to confirm the popular belief that "Brazil cannot be helped." Our task here is to show that scandals may be something bigger and more complex than the mere manifestation of decay. Along these lines, we suggest that scandals can be properly dealt with as some way of action, control and, sometimes, as some mechanism of social change. By means of scandals a society abandons, reiterates, alters, or creates standards of living and legitimation.