IBM's World Citizens: Valentim Bouças and the Politics of IT Expansion in Authoritarian Brazil
Colette Perold · IEEE Annals of the History of Computing · 2020
This article analyzes the politics of the International Business Machine's (IBM) expansion in interwar Brazil. It does so by focusing on Valentim Bouças, IBM's first representative in Brazil, and an outstanding figure in IBM trade press materials for the rapid pace at which he grew IBM's Brazilian operations. Grounded in the earliest recorded moment in which IBM was first threatened with expulsion from Brazilian markets, this article analyzes how IBM, led by Bouças, regained Brazilian markets and expanded its operations in the country through the political negotiations it entered into. Using approaches from global political economy and Latin American studies, this article builds on Latin American traditions of social studies of science and technology to analyze how IBM, as a U.S.-based multinational IT firm, first installed itself in Brazil's interwar authoritarian regime, helping restructure Brazilian administrative and financial apparatuses to its advantage.