SummaryThe Patron‐Dependant Relationship in Brazil: A Preliminart ExaminationIn considering problems of economic development in the underdeveloped countries, too little attention has been paid to the possibility of a social ethos inimical to changes in work habits. It is suggested that one such obstacle visible throughout Brazilian life is that of the patron‐dependant relationship, which substitutes for self‐reliance a dependence on the assistance of the powerful. This, it is argued, may be associated with the absence in Brazil of a mystique of ‘work for work's sake7rsquo;. Some of the possible origins of the relationship, of its manifestations in rural and urban life, are mentioned, together with some implications for a successful programme of rural change and agrarian inn