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This article was downloaded by: [Dr Guy Burton]On: 15 June 2013, At: 22:58Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Journal of Policy Practice Publication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wjpp20 An End to Poverty in Brazil? AnAssessment of the Lula and RousseffGovernments' Poverty Reduction andElimination Strategies Guy Burton aa Department of Politics and International Relations , University ofKurdistan-Hewler , Erbil , Iraq To cite this article: Guy Burton (2013): An End to Poverty in Brazil? An Assessment of the Lula andRousseff Governments' Poverty Reduction and Elimination Strategies, Journal of Policy Practice, 12:3,194-215 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15588742.2013.796203 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLEFull terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditionsThis article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representationthat the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of anyinstructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primarysources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings,demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly orindirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. Journal of Policy Practice , 12:194–215, 2013Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 1558-8742 print/1558-8750 onlineDOI: 10.1080/15588742.2013.796203 An End to Poverty in Brazil? An Assessment of the Lula and Rousseff Governments’ Poverty Reduction and Elimination Strategies GUY BURTON Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Kurdistan-Hewler, Erbil, Iraq To what extent is poverty elimination feasible? The article exam-ines the nature and extent of poverty reduction strategies in the developing world generally and in Brazil in particular. The imple-mentation of neoliberal economic development and social policies has resulted in a relative decline in levels of relative poverty and encouraged policy makers that poverty elimination is within sight (through the Brasil sem Miséria program). However, the results of such policies have been mixed and are contingent and will arguably remain so without a complete overhaul of prevailing economic and social structures. KEYWORDS Brazil, poverty reduction, neoliberal development, social redistribution, Latin America The past decade has been an important one with regard to poverty in Brazil. Around 26 million people have been lifted out of poverty and 36 millionothers are reported to have joined the new middle class in recent years(Peduzzi, 2011). Such figures provided the backdrop for Brazil’s first womanpresident, Dilma Rousseff, to launch a plan aiming to eradicate poverty in June 2011. The Brasil sem Miséria (Brazil without Poverty) plan is intendedto support the 16 million who are deemed to remain in absolute poverty across the country and will involve an increase in their incomes through cashtransfers and supportive measures designed to enhance their opportunitiesin the labor market. Address correspondence to Guy Burton, Department of Politics and InternationalRelations, University of Kurdistan-Hewler, 30 Meter Avenue, Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.E-mail:
[email protected] D o w n l o a d e d b y [ D r G u y B u r t o n ] a t 2 2 : 5 8 1 5 J u n e 2 0 1 3 An End to Poverty in Brazil? 195 The government’s plan suggested a strong confidence that it couldeliminate absolute poverty in the next few years. That it does so indicates theextent to which the issue of poverty is being addressed in Brazil. In particularit points to several questions relating to poverty in Brazil. How has poverty been reduced in Brazil and to what extent has this process been sustainable? Are the same approaches being applied to the government’s poverty elim-ination plan and what are the outstanding challenges that will need to befaced in order to achieve an end to poverty?To answer these questions, this article assesses the nature of poverty reduction and its possible elimination in Brazil in several ways. It consid-ers the concept of poverty and its multidimensional nature, despite policy makers’ tendency to emphasize its economic aspect. The article then con-siders the ways in which policy makers have sought to reduce poverty and especially in the case of Brazil, with attention being given to botheconomic growth and social redistribution. This consisted of a more market-oriented approach to economic growth during the Cardoso government(1995–2002) followed by a more state-oriented approach under the LuisInacio “Lula” da Silva government (2003–2010). This also included the accel-erated growth program initiated in 2007 and which provided a buffer duringthe recent global financial crisis. Following this, the latest anti-poverty strat-egy in Brazil is analyzed: the Brasil sem Miséria plan, assessing the extentto which it reflects a continuation of current poverty reduction approachesand the constraints it will face in realizing its objectives. Although basedon the current economic growth and social redistribution strategies currently employed by Brazilian governments, it reflects a new confidence that poverty can be reduced and also eliminated. Whether this is possible is addressed tosome extent in the final concluding section, which also summarizes the mainthemes associated with poverty reduction strategies in Brazil and the extentto which the current approach is sustainable. DEFINING POVERTY Poverty was initially seen as the consequence of low income. This is apparentin the different ways in which poverty has been understood as an eco-nomic issue, from a focus on wealth, consumption, earnings, and / or socialdeprivation (Smith, 2005; Burtless & Smeeding, 2001). However, such anunderstanding is reductionist, since cash is a means to an end rather thanan end in itself. Today, poverty is seen as a more multidimensional concept,including poor economic opportunities, hunger, poor health, early mortal-ity, denial of childhood, education, and powerlessness. Recognizing thisgoes beyond previous forms of poverty reduction based on social policiesand programs to generate income growth to include those which addressmarginalisation, discrimination, and power (Hulme Lawson, 2010). Sen’s(2001) contribution to the study of poverty is especially significant: he notes D o w n l o a d e d b y [ D r G u y B u r t o n ] a t 2 2 : 5 8 1 5 J u n e 2 0 1 3 196 G. Burton that the deprivation of basic capabilities—namely an individual’s substantivefreedoms to live the life that he or she wants and values—combined withlow income, can contribute to poverty. Capability deprivation may be theresult of particular elements, such as age, disability, illness or inequalities within the family (e.g., focus on boys over girls). In Brazil such disadvan-tages may also be associated with a person’s place of residence (e.g., livingin a favela, or urban slum) and skin color (Perlman, 2005). Alongside individual deprivations, poverty can also have a strong inter-generational dimension through transmission from the older generation tothe next in many households (Brazer, 2008; Presidential Commission onIncome Maintenance Programs, 2008, Valencia, 2008). Such “poverty traps”are structural in the sense that they are not temporary, making it difficult fora person to improve their position by his or her own efforts (Doorman, 1998;Smith, 2005). In Latin America the structural nature of poverty has arguably contributed to an assumption that it is impossible to eliminate, with thefocus of social policy on its management and alleviating the worst excesses(Lo Vuolo, 2008).Poverty is also relative. Sen (2001) notes how relative deprivation inincome inequality can be compounded into absolute capability deprivation.For example, being poor in a rich country makes one relatively poor whilebeing wealthy in an unfree country does not overcome a rich person’s lack of freedom. A distinction may therefore be drawn between absolute and relativepoverty. In the economic dimension, the former deals with a fixed level of purchasing power and the latter with income and consumption levels incomparison to the rest of a society (Smith, 2005; Burtless & Smeeding, 2001;Doorman, 1998).In addition to the distinction between absolute and relative poverty,there is also an attitudinal one, especially among the political and policy-making elite. Simply put, a distinction between the political left and rightmay be summarized by the left’s focus on measures to increase equal-ity between people and the right’s greater acceptance of difference—andtherefore equality—between them (Bobbio, 1996). The left tends towardredistributive measures while the right is more willing to tolerate poverty,on account of many conservatives’ assumption that poverty, laziness, andincompetence are synonymous (Pierson, 1996; Bobbio, 1996; Piva, 2011;Doorman, 1998). In the case of Brazil, the two streams have been apparentin government, which is reflected in the nature of the policies adopted overthe past two decades. STRATEGIES FOR OVERCOMING POVERTY Despite poverty’s multidimensional nature, practitioners have tended to focuson two main ways to reduce poverty: through the use of (1) economicgrowth and (2) social redistributive measures (see Asian Development Bank, D o w n l o a d e d b y [ D r G u y B u r t o n ] a t 2 2 : 5 8 1 5 J u n e 2 0 1 3 An End to Poverty in Brazil? 197 2001; Islam, 2006; de Haan, 2007; Mody & Pattillo, 2006; Kessy & Tostensen,2008; Barder, 2009; Hulme & Lawson, 2010). Economic Growth The focus on economic growth has been a major focus for many policy mak-ers at both a global and regional level—even as the emphasis has changedover time, from state-led industrialization to market-led reforms and mostrecently to a greater role for the state in underpinning market-led develop-ment. Neoliberalism is understood here as the liberalization and deregulationof the economy and social sector and greater exposure to the market. Duringthe “first generation” of reforms from the 1980s until the late 1990s the focus was on the market, whereas in the “second generation” during the 2000smore attention has been given to the role of the state in constructing theframework for effective and efficient market activity. In both periods though,neoliberal advocates have believed that opening up the economy and society in this way would lead to greater dynamism and growth.The journey to neoliberal economic development was laid out in the World Bank’s 2001 World Development Report on poverty reduction. Duringthe 1950s and 1960s it noted that investments in physical capacity andinfrastructure were deemed to be central policy measures. In the 1970simprovements in health and education grew in importance while the debtcrisis and economic contractions of the 1980s prompted a greater focus oneconomic management and the use of the market. In the 1990s more atten-tion was given to issues of governance, the role of institutions and questionsof vulnerability at the sub-national level. The World Bank recommendedmore material support and opportunities for the poor, coupled with greateremphasis on actions that facilitate poor people’s empowerment on the onehand and security (e.g., physical, environmental, and health) on the otherhand.The World Bank’s summary of past poverty reduction strategies echoesother accounts of development. Hall and Midgeley (2004) have noted howdevelopment has been pursued since the middle of the past century in vari-ous ways, from the modernization of the economy and society through stateplanning in the economy and welfare sectors. During the third quarter of the twentieth century this entailed investment in physical capital and infras-tructure through the use of import substitution industrialization (ISI). In thisperiod the state protected the domestic economy and industry and promotedfull employment; however, by the 1970s economic growth was insufficient tosupport people’s incomes or cover the costs of a growing welfare state. The1980s debt crisis prompted a re-evaluation and application of policy options, with an increased focus on neoliberalism, which has arguably become thedominant model in the developing world and Latin America generally, andBrazil in particular. D o w n l o a d e d b y [ D r G u y B u r t o n ] a t 2 2 : 5 8 1 5 J u n e 2 0 1 3
