Housing movements and the politics of worthiness in São Paulo

Kopper, Moisés and Richmond, Matthew A. ORCID: 0000-0002-1563-3615 (2021) Housing movements and the politics of worthiness in São Paulo. Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology, 26 (2). 276 - 296. ISSN 1935-4932

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Abstract

Based on research with current and former housing activists in São Paulo, this article identifies the concept of “politics of worthiness” as central to the moral justification and technical legitimation of social movements. Attributions of worthiness have long upheld the relationship between institutionalized grassroots organizations and the state but are equally present in everyday life and social distinctions among Brazil's popular classes. By examining contrasting constructions of worthiness among both present-day housing movements and residents of areas that are the product of past mobilizations, the article contends that collective experiences of mobilization in dialogue with myriad external influences produce diverse and often ambivalent political subjectivities. The politics of worthiness sheds light on how these actors organize themselves, experience participation, and square universalist demands with the contingent solidarities and changing social, institutional, and political realities that they inhabit.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journ...
Additional Information:	© 2021 The Authors Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the residents of Fazenda da Juta and activists at MTSTL1 and the União da Juta for their invaluable collaboration with our research. We would also like to thank colleagues at the Centro de Estudos da Metrópole for their guidance and support, and the JLACA editors and anonymous reviewers for their enormous help in developing this article. The research was funded with two Postdoctoral Grants from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), grant numbers 2015/14480‐0 and 2016/16265‐1. Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the residents of Fazenda da Juta and activists at MTSTL1 and the União da Juta for their invaluable collaboration with our research. We would also like to thank colleagues at the Centro de Estudos da Metrópole for their guidance and support, and the JLACA editors and anonymous reviewers for their enormous help in developing this article. The research was funded with two Postdoctoral Grants from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), grant numbers 2015/14480-0 and 2016/16265-1. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Anthropological Association
Divisions:	IGA: Latin America and Caribbean Centre
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Date Deposited:	25 Mar 2021 17:54
Last Modified:	17 Apr 2024 05:18
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/109316

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