The politics of redistribution in Brazil

• In Event: South-South Cooperation

Abstract

Brazil is one of a limited number of countries in the past half century to successfully and quickly reduce income inequality over a sustained period – particularly 2000-2012. It is still one of the world’s most unequal countries, however much less than 15 years ago. How did this happen? What was the politics behind this transformation? While Brazilian inequality has been the focus of a growing body of literature, much this has focussed on policies or economics. Much less literature has focuses on the politics behind these changes.

This paper draws on political science and development studies literature, and interviews with key informants in Brazil. To understand the 2000-2012 period of redistribution, it explores the changes in the previous decades, starting with the critical juncture of the end of the military dictatorship and the new Constitution (1985-1995). It particularly focusses on: (i) agency (looking at the individuals, organisations and coalitions); and (b) ideas (looking at philosophies, ideologies, values, and narratives).

Author

• Sian G Herbert, University of Birmingham