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Paper short abstract:

Based on a long-term research, I want to discuss some of the transformations that can be observed among the Kalapalo's families and childcare (Upper Xingu, Brazil), due to the expansion of conditional cash transfer policies in Brazil.

Paper long abstract:

Based on a long-term research, I intend to present some reflections on access to and effects of cash transfer programs among the Kalapalo, speakers of a variation of the Karib language in the Upper Xingu region (Mato Grosso, Brazil). Bolsa Família is a conditional cash transfer program, aimed to "poor families", especially those with children, registered in the Single Registry for Social Programs of the Brazilian's Federal Government. Programmes like this are based on concepts that disregard the indigenous peoples' specificities, specially concerning "poverty", "family" and parenthood. The criteria adopted to identify families, for example, are economic dependence among their members, as well as cohabitation in the same "domicile". This definition does not consider, for example, the transit of children between the various village houses throughout the day, which implies not only sharing food, but also sharing care, blurring the boundaries between "families" as thought by the Program. Besides, the very process of introducing money into a hitherto under-monetized economy transform gender and generation relations inside the "families", reinforcing some hitherto unmarked relationships and at the same time breaking with certain obligations that marked, for example, the affinity relations between in-laws. At the same time, the conditionalities families must attend in order to receive the benefits compel parents to maintain educational and health habits that disregard and often disqualify traditional care practices.