Francisco de Oliveira

Francisco Maria Cavalcanti de Oliveira (November 7, 1933 – July 10, 2019), more known as Chico de Oliveira, was a Brazilian sociologist known for his analysis of capitalist development and inequality in Brazil. Born in Recife, he worked at Sudene with Celso Furtado, was exiled during the military regime, and later became a founding member of the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP) and a professor at the University of São Paulo. In works such as Crítica à razão dualista (1972) and O ornitorrinco (2003), he argued that Brazil's economic modernization reinforced, rather than reduced, archaic forms of exploitation and social inequality. He was also a founding member of the Workers' Party (PT), which he later left.