Brazilian journalist to give lecture on modern slavery, global consumption

LAWRENCE – Brazilian journalist Leonardo Sakamoto will visit the University of Kansas this month to discuss the connection of modern slavery to climate change and global consumption.

Sakamoto will give a lecture at a hybrid event, “Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking in Brazil: Climate Change and Global Production Networks,” at 3 p.m. April 17 in The Forum at Marvin Hall. Participants can also register to attend virtually on Zoom.

The following day, Sakamoto will participate in the panel discussion Brazilian Politics Today: A Conversation with Leonardo Sakamoto, from noon to 1:30 p.m. April 18 in Alderson Auditorium at the Kansas Union.

Sakamoto is the president of Repórter Brasil, a leading nonprofit in Brazil that is fighting to end slave labor and human trafficking. Sakamoto earned his doctorate in political science from University of São Paulo and teaches journalism at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo.

Founded in 2001 by journalists, social scientists and educators, Repórter Brasil aims to identify and publicize violations of human and workers’ rights and socioenvironmental damage in Brazil. The organization is an important source of information on slave labor in Brazil, which has been used by social, political and economic leaders to combat modern slavery.

Since 1995, the Brazilian government has released more than 60,000 workers from modern slavery. Many of those people were in industries that contributed to climate change, such as the deforestation of the Amazon. At his lecture April 17, Sakamoto will discuss how slave labor is linked to climate change and global consumption.

While on campus, Sakamoto will also participate in a panel discussion April 18 about Brazilian politics. The informal discussion will include the recent election in Brazil, post-election invasion of government buildings and predictions of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government.

Luciano Tosta, interim director for the Center for Global & International Studies, will moderate the panel discussion. Along with Sakamoto, panelists will include Chris Anderson, the Anderson W. Chandler Professor at the School of Business; Gabriel Castro, doctoral student in political science; Helena Ferreira, graduate research assistant at the Achievement & Assessment Institute; Ana Laura Marques, lecturer in Spanish & Portuguese; Gary Reich, professor of political science; and Antônio Simões, professor of Spanish & Portuguese.

Sakamoto’s lecture and the panel discussion are sponsored by the Center for Global & International Studies; the William Allen White School of Journalism & Mass Communications; Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies; Center for Migration Research; Department of Political Science; Department of Spanish & Portuguese; Department of Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies; and KU International Affairs.