Suchergebnisse

Abstract After the end of the political and economic cycle that gave rise to the phenomenon that became known as the Brazilian new middle class, in this article we argue that this reading was not limited to verifying the increase in income and consume power of thousands of families, but also framed it within a broader narrative that has hindered the sociological investigation of the phenomenon. Thus, our first objective is to develop, with the support of empirical data from the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD-IBGE), an alternative interpretation of the changes observed in Brazilian society in recent years. Our second objective is to reflect, with the help of data from the Survey on the Middle Class (CESOP-UNICAMP-2008), and also from qualitative research previously prepared by the authors, on the possible impacts of these changes on the expectations of individuals and, thus, on their perceptions and attitudes towards the enormous inequalities still present in the country.

Abstract After the end of the political and economic cycle that gave rise to the phenomenon that became known as the Brazilian new middle class, in this article we argue that this reading was not limited to verifying the increase in income and consume power of thousands of families, but also framed it within a broader narrative that has hindered the sociological investigation of the phenomenon. Thus, our first objective is to develop, with the support of empirical data from the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD-IBGE), an alternative interpretation of the changes observed in Brazilian society in recent years. Our second objective is to reflect, with the help of data from the Survey on the Middle Class (CESOP-UNICAMP-2008), and also from qualitative research previously prepared by the authors, on the possible impacts of these changes on the expectations of individuals and, thus, on their perceptions and attitudes towards the enormous inequalities still present in the country.

Este artigo analisa o surgimento de uma nova classe média, como vem sendo proposto pelos economistas brasileiros, à luz da perspectiva sociológica dos Estudos de Classe. Para tanto, recupera o debate da Economia, que se baseia na renda para definir classes, assim como o da Sociologia da Estratificação, de acordo com seus diferentes marcos teóricos. Usando dados das PNADs 2002 e 2009, apresenta o argumento de que as mudanças na estrutura de classes não foram significativas a ponto de apoiar a ideia de uma nova classe, nem houve um crescimento na classe média tradicional.

The global Covid-19 pandemic had seen inequalities much exacerbated and disparities between and within nations widened. The socio-economic crisis experienced in Brazil is no exception. The long-term impacts of the pandemic on our socio-economic and political lives and how they shape the production and reproduction of inequalities will continue to dominate contemporary sociological debates. We propose a set of original papers that focus not only on the measurement of social inequalities, but seek to articulate the complex social processes based on new empirical evidence on wealth distribution, well-being and life chances in the 21st century. Despite being a late-industrialized country, the general trends observed in Brazil in inequalities can shed light on similar developments in other societies, and this Special Issue aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the persistent and deepening inequalities worldwide.