Dalle Altre Americhe al mondo: lo sguardo di Sebastião Salgado sulla globalizzazione neoliberista

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the ways in which Sebastião Salgado, brazilian photographer active since the 1970s, represents the consequences of neoliberal globalization at both a local (in his Latin America) and global level. This critical analysis will be carried out through four of his main works and will be supported by postcolonial theory, which will act as a lens through which the whole production of this photographer will be read. The four works previously mentioned are: Other Americas, Salgado's first collection, published in 1986; Terra, political essay and at the same time an elegy for Brazil and its land; Workers, which represents an “archaeology of the industrial age”, and Migrations, a book about migrants in the globalized age. Salgado's look on globalization is peculiar and relevant for two reasons: the first, his origins (born and raised in Brazil, though he currently lives in France); the second and most important, his previous experience as a political activist and economist. In the interpretation of Salgado's pictures, one cannot but consider his political and economic formation and knowledge: these are exactly what shapes his critique of neoliberal globalization, as this thesis aims at demonstrating.