More than a party

by Molly Randhawa

Carnival is more than just a party. Every year, Brazil’s streets fill with colour and music, the result of months of around-the-clock planning to preserve a century-old tradition. For Bruna Brito, growing up in Brazil meant watching Carnival every year and listening to her family discuss costumes, rhythms, sambas – fully immersing themselves in the universe of carnival.

Now, as a PhD student at the University of Victoria’s Sardul S. Gill Graduate School of Business, that same celebration is at the heart of her research. Bruna examines how Afro-Brazilian communities behind Carnival in Brazil organize to cultivate belonging, resilience and continuity across generations. The specific samba school she’s researching, Vai-Vai, has thrived for 96 years. She offers a fresh perspective on what organizing can mean beyond the corporate world.

A different approach to business

There is a different kind of rhythm to Bruna’s research. It’s grounded in people. Specifically, how underrepresented and marginalized groups come together, organize and ultimately keep their communities alive.

“Business is really about organizations, and organizations are everywhere. Organizations are a very varied phenomenon, and they really embrace this type of research here [at Gustavson.]”

Through her fieldwork, one on one interviews, examination of archival material and by organizing alongside Vai-Vai, Bruna immersed herself in the very movements she’s researching. She even joined the parade—examining organization in its most human form—through song and dance and the collective energy that sustains community.

Organization in action

“There was this one day before starting my PhD, when I was doing my master’s at Memorial University in Newfoundland and I was watching Carnival on TV, missing it so much,” she recalls. “You know when you have an ‘aha’ moment? That’s when I realized that there was a huge opportunity to research these organizations.”

Carnival is a massive, complex form of organizing. “For [the organizers], everything is very organic. You are the organization and you are the community,” Bruna shares.

“It is very serious work. It’s very important that everything goes perfectly—the parades are a competition after all. And yet, at the same time, you can still have a lot of fun — and they do have a lot of fun.”

Her research highlights a powerful example of organization and management that isn’t always found in offices or boardrooms. Organization, management, strategy and leadership can all happen in the shared rhythm of people coming together, often in the face of struggle.

“My idea is to understand how organizations of marginalized groups persist and endure, how they develop continuity across time despite all the systemic problems they face,” Bruna explains. “Carnival in Brazil is a celebration of Afro-Brazilian groups, and there’s a whole context of slavery, colonization and oppression entangled with that celebration. These are organizations that have endured all kinds of marginalization, stigmatization and they’re here. Vai-Vai has been around for 96 years. Not only have they survived, but they’ve thrived— against the odds.”

Despite their long history of resistance and status as the biggest winner of Carnival parades in Sao Paulo, the challenges for this organization continue, as they have recently faced displacement from the neighborhood of Bixiga. “For Vai-Vai, that place is at the base of their identity and an important symbol of their resilience across time. Having to leave their sacred neighborhood was a huge shock for the organization. So, part of my work tries to understand the impact of displacement for them and the strategies to sustain their connection to place.”

Shaping research through experience

Bruna’s research is shaped by the communities she comes from and the experiences she has lived. “I’m hoping my work will help us recognize these other forms of organizing and challenge how management research has, for many years, been heavily Western-focused, often at the expense of other groups, voices and experiences.”

She notes that historically in the social sciences, when marginalized communities were studied, it was often in a patronizing or exotic way. “As a Brazilian who grew up in poverty, who came out of marginalization myself, is a mixed-race person, but who was also trained in Canada, I’m hoping I can bring these voices forward in a more authentic way. Hopefully, that contributes to research that’s trying to center alternative voices and perspectives while also making a positive impact in the communities I research.”

Now in her fourth year as a PhD student, Bruna was recently awarded a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship, giving her what every researcher needs most: time.

“Research is a very slow game. It’s iterative. You go into the field, especially with qualitative work, spend a long time collecting data, then come back, read, analyze, write, revise…It’s an infinite process,” she says. “Having the SSHRC has bought me a fifth year without having to worry about teaching or taking on extra work. It allows me to continue my research without rushing or ending up with something half-baked.”

Advice for future students

The support to continue the research and fieldwork is something that Bruna is excited about. As an international student, she admits that it can be hard but she has advice for prospective students, especially international and underrepresented scholars. Her advice is simple but powerful:

“Do it. It’s going to be hard, especially as an international student. You will have to navigate so many challenges, especially language and culture, but if you truly believe in the importance of what you’re researching, it pays off. Remember that you bring your own unique way of seeing the world, no matter what intersections you have in your own identity, and that’s your advantage.”