Paper short abstract:

The paper looks at how political struggles among actors in diverse institutional and socio-political configurations shape the design, implementation and reformulations of Cash Transfers programmes in Chile (eg. Chile Solidario) and Ecuador (Bono de Desarrollo Humano).

Paper long abstract:

This paper will look at the institutional and socio-political configurations behind the design, implementation and reformulations of Cash Transfer (CT) programmes in Chile and Ecuador - Chile Solidario and Bono de Desarrollo Humano. It will analyse, from a discursive-institutionalist theoretical perspective (Panizza and Miorelli, 2012), how political struggles among actors in these configurations have shaped the programmes in terms of priorities and changes. For instance, it will look at how these struggles moulded decisions regarding the CTs emphasis on either short-term (income) or long-term (human capital) objectives or changes such as the recent incorporation of school performance conditions in Chile's CTs under the new Ingreso Etico Ciudadano. The paper will present research findings from fieldwork in Chile and Ecuador based on interviews to policy makers and implementers as well as to socio-political actors influencing decision-making processes in this policy area. Chile and Ecuador have been chosen in order to compare two South American countries with significantly different characteristics, especially in terms of their socio-economic structures, economic development strategies, and, last but not least, their past and current politics.

Reference: Panizza, F. and R. Miorelli (2012) Taking Discourse Seriously: Discursive Institutionalism and Post-structuralist Discourse Theory. Political Studies. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9248.2012.00967.x

Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses the complex relationship between processes of political liberalisation and social policy reforms by investigating the political factors behind the divergent paths in health reform, followed during the last two decades in Brazil and Mexico.

Paper long abstract:

This paper seeks to discuss the complex relationship between political liberalisation and social policy reform. The study is guided by the following research question: what type of institutional arrangements lie behind the generation of universalistic systems of social protection, and what type of institutional arrangements favour the reproduction of existing inequalities? Brazil and Mexico offer interesting comparable reasons to research the former as these two countries have undertaken different models of healthcare reform alongside the implementation of similar processes of political liberalisation. In Brazil a universalistic system (Sistema Único de Saúde) was instituted in 1988, whereas in Mexico an additional insurance programme (Seguro Popular de Salud) was layered to the existing social insurance programmes in 2002. Our argument is that the answer to this puzzle lies in the understanding of the effects of the institutional arrangements that existed at the time of the reforms. Drawing on historical institutionalism, we argue that while the production of a critical juncture was central to forge a universal healthcare system in Brazil, in the case of Mexico, political conditions favoured the reproduction of the system's fragmented nature. Three key dimensions triggered and shaped the different paths followed in the two countries: the type of political liberalisation, the system of industrial relations and the level of institutional influence of the left. Results show that social policy reform can serve the purpose of the conservation of power structures but it can also crystallise progressive change.

Paper short abstract:

This paper argues that CCTs -targeted to women and given to beneficiaries that are considered poor- work as a special kind of money. Based on ethnographic data and interviews, it draws a series of social implications that stem from the target, manner, periodicity, and amount of the subsidies given.

Paper long abstract:

While women are not necessarily the main objective of CCTs, these programs tend to target women within households as the cash recipients. This has brought about criticisms on account of the treatment of women as instruments rather than subjects of policy(i.e. Molyneux, 2009), as well as the signalling of problematic trade-offs between program objectives and the extra-burden CCTs place on already time-poor women. The issue of female empowerment, thus, has become an important subject of contention within discussions of CCT impacts. Usually approached through household surveys and focus groups, results so far are not very conclusive and require a deeper understanding of how these transfers affect the different power relations that shape these women's choices.

Based on ethnographic data and extensive interviews in the Montes de María region in Colombia, this paper addresses some of the main problems identified by CCT beneficiary mothers: the long payment queues, dealing with commercial establishments, humiliation and stigmatization. A key aspect of the displacements, points of tension and contradictions emerging from the intersection of CCTs and existing communities seems to be the substance of cash subsidies as such: money. Following the money thread, I 1) argue why is it that this money is so important for the beneficiaries, and 2) propose to conceptualize CCTs as special moneys -this money is socially marked in ways that affect its users and influence the way it is circulated and spent.

Paper short abstract:

The paper aims to show how the investment of CTPs for human development has resulted in contrasting outcomes in similar communities. Based on fieldwork in indigenous Mexican municipalities, the paper provides empirical evidence about the factors that shape the outcomes of human development funding.

Paper long abstract:

In the last 15 years, the Mexican government has increased the amount of CTPs aimed at supporting the poorest social groups. Particular attention has been given to funding human development (HD) in rural areas with indigenous population. The aim of this paper is to show how the investment of government funds, such as the programme 'Oportunidades', has resulted in contrasting outcomes in similar communities. Based on fieldwork carried out in two indigenous municipalities from Oaxaca, Mexico, the paper provides empirical evidence about the factors that, beyond the technical design of transfers, shape the outcomes of human development funding. The communities analysed are, according to the United Nations Development Programme, among the 20 with the highest increase in the Human Development Index within the country. The evidence suggests that no matter the amount of social spending, if the agency capacity of this kind of communities is not strengthened, the outcomes from those resources will not be effective neither sustainable. The study may contribute to the debate about the complexity of overcoming poverty in less developed countries.

Paper short abstract:

In this paper, I analyze views on poverty and citizenship present in the Bolsa Familia Program public debate. I draw on content from newspaper articles from 2004 to 2012 and interviews.

Paper long abstract:

The establishment of a minimum income has been a point of controversy in Brazilian politics and society since the last 20 years. On one hand, advocates for the implementation of such a policy have characterized it as a right inherent to every human being, this way, framing it in terms of human rights. On the other hand, it has been rationalized as a matter of rights of citizenship. This last perspective argues that providing people with standards enough to enable them to exercise their rights of citizenship is one of the main duties a State is compromised with.

The main point here is the ability of the preponderant discourses on needs to detach poverty from some of the sources of socio-economic and political inequality to which it is related. By stressing some sets of problems and setting aside others, each approach makes a choice for conflicting conceptions on: The relationship between state and society, the relations between global and local and what belongs to the public sphere and what concerns to the private realm in matters of needs.

In this paper, I present an overview of the debate on the "Bolsa Família" Program from 2004 to 2012, and briefly discuss the main reasoning present in it. Discussions concerning questions such as: "who is entitled to the program", "what should be provided, food or money", and "how to make the poor more productive" are informed by theories, and ideologies. What do they tell us about social consensus on poverty and inequality in Brazil?