Judging poverty and inequality in Brazil / Tainá Garcia Maia.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Maia, Tainá Garcia, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Equality--Brazil.

Equality.

Poverty--Brazil.

Poverty.

Brazil.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : illustrations

illustration

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, [2026]

Summary:

'Judging Poverty and Inequality in Brazil' offers an unprecedented empirical analysis of the judicialisation of poverty in Brazil. Anchored in the Brazilian context - a postcolonial society where structural and intersectional discrimination continues to correlate with poverty today - the book explores the complex relationship between poverty and inequality, enriching critical debates on how law can more effectively respond to material deprivation and social exclusion. Its analysis centres on the case law of two prominent courts with jurisdiction over the Brazilian State: the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court (STF) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR). The book unfolds in two parts. Part I examines the theoretical interconnections between poverty and inequality, drawing on law, sociology, and political science. Part II turns to the Brazilian experience.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Preface

Table of Contents

Figures

Tables

Abbreviations

1 Introduction

1.1 The Problem: Equality as a (Under)utilized Tool for Addressing Poverty?

1.2 The Empirical Study

1.2.1 The Choice of the Case Study

1.2.2 Hypotheses

1.2.3 The Dataset

1.2.4 Content Analysis

1.3 The Book's Structure

PART I INEQUALITY AND POVERTY IN THEORY

2 'What's in a Name?' Shakespeare Asked

2.1 What Is Poverty?

2.1.1 Poverty Lines

2.1.1.1 International Lines for Monetary Poverty

2.1.1.2 National Lines for Monetary Poverty

2.1.2 Multidimensional Poverty

2.2 What Is Equality?

2.2.1 Delimiting Spaces in the Formula 'Treating Likes Alike': Equality of What?

2.2.2 Cognate, Suspect, Or Protected Groups: Equality to Whom?

2.2.3 The Content of Equality: a 'Like' Treatment?

2.2.3.1 From Formal to Substantive Equality

2.2.3.2 Substantive Equality as a Multidimensional Concept

2.2.3.3 The Scope of Substantive Equality: Beyond Disadvantage

2.3 Concluding Remarks

3 How Does Law Accommodate the Socio-Economic Concept of Poverty?

3.1 The 'Deserving' and the 'Undeserving' Poor: Treating Poverty Punitively

3.1.1 A Legacy of Marginalization: Vagrancy Laws in Brazil

3.1.2 The Punitive Treatment of Poverty and Its Impact On Equality

3.2 The Emergence of a Human Rights Approach to Poverty

3.2.1 The Incorporation of Social Rights Into the Constitutional Text

3.2.2 Post-1945 Codification of International Human Rights Law

3.2.3 The Emergence of a Human Right to Development

3.3 An Unfulfilled Promise?

3.3.1 The 'Basic Needs' Discussion

3.3.2 Social Rights Adjudication as a Self-Sufficient Strategy?

3.4 Equality as a Legal Tool for Addressing Poverty

3.5 Concluding Remarks

4 Judicializing Poverty.

4.1 The Models of Fredman and Atrey

4.2 The Four-Prong Model

4.2.1 Poverty Or Economic Status as a Suspect Classification

4.2.2 Equality as a Test of the Scope and Effect of Anti-Poverty Measures

4.2.3 Poverty as a Matter of Discriminatory Context

4.2.3.1 Identifying Disadvantages and Identities in Intersectional Discrimination

4.2.3.2 Recognizing Vulnerabilities

4.2.4 Positive Obligations Emanating From Substantive Equality

4.3 Concluding Remarks

PART II EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

5 The Evolution of Poverty in Brazil (1988-2023)

5.1 Methodology

5.2 Monetary Poverty

5.2.1 The 'Lost Decade'

5.2.2 Economic Stabilization and Distributive Policies Following the Plano Real

5.2.3 The Labour Party ('PT') Years: 2003-2015

5.2.4 The Aggravation of the Political and Economic Crisis and the Covid-19 Pandemic

5.2.5 The Start of Lula's Non-Consecutive Third Mandate

5.3 Multidimensional Poverty

5.3.1 Multidimensional Poverty in Indexes

5.3.2 A Dashboard Approach

5.3.2.1 Hunger

5.3.2.2 Education

5.3.2.3 Life Expectancy and Child Mortality

5.3.2.4 Access to Water, Sanitation, and Electricity

5.3.2.5 Conclusion

5.4 A Matter of Class, Colour, Or Gender?

5.5 Conclusions: Manifestations of Inequalities in Poverty in Brazil

6 Equality and Poverty in the STF

6.1 Legal Framework: Poverty and Inequality in the 1988 Constitution of Brazil

6.2 Methodology of the Empirical Analysis

6.2.1 Case Selection

6.2.1.1 Equality Jurisprudence

6.2.1.2 Poverty Outside Equality Cases

6.2.2 Coding and Content Analysis

6.3 Empirical Results

6.3.1 Conceptualization of Poverty

6.3.2 Conceptualization of Equality

6.3.2.1 Substantive Versus Formal Equality

6.3.2.2 The Relevance of Affirmative Action

6.3.3 Judicial Strategies for Accommodating Poverty in Equality Cases.

6.3.3.1 Suspect Classification

6.3.3.2 Inclusiveness and Impact of Anti-Poverty Measures

6.3.3.3 The Contextual Approach

6.3.3.4 Positive Obligations

6.3.3.5 Poverty Outside of Equality Cases

6.4 Conclusion: Identified Patterns

7 Equality and Poverty in the IACtHR

7.1 Legal Framework: the American Convention On Human Rights

7.2 Methodology of the Empirical Analysis

7.2.1 Case Selection

7.2.1.1 Equality Jurisprudence

7.2.1.2 Poverty Outside Equality Cases

7.2.2 Coding and Content Analysis

7.3 Empirical Results

7.3.1 Conceptualization of Poverty

7.3.2 Conceptualization of Equality

7.3.3 Judicial Strategies for Accommodating Poverty in Equality Cases

7.3.3.1 Suspect Classification

7.3.3.2 The Contextual Approach

7.3.3.3 Positive Obligations

7.3.3.4 Reparations

7.3.3.5 Poverty Outside of Equality Cases

7.4 Conclusion: Identified Patterns

8 A Comparative Analysis and Paths Forward

8.1 Judicial Contributions to a Socio-Political Challenge

8.1.1 Policy Review in the STF: Confirming and Expanding Distributive Measures

8.1.2 The IACtHR's Creation of New Positive Measures: Bringing Vulnerability to the Centre

8.2 Judicial Tools for Bringing Equality to the Poverty Equation: a Comparative Analysis

8.2.1 Shared Practices: the Role of Substantive and Positive Equality in Poverty Adjudication

8.2.2 Two Central Differences

8.2.2.1 Poverty and the Transformative Dimension of Equality

8.2.2.2 Effectiveness Under Judicial Scrutiny

8.3 Paths Forward: Addressing Poverty in Brazil Through Judicial Adjudication

8.3.1 A Polycentric Approach to Distributive Claims

8.3.2 Effectiveness and Progressive Realization: Complementary Or Opposing Concepts?

8.4 Concluding Remarks

9 Conclusion

9.1 The Equality Pleonasm?

9.2 The Case of Brazil.

9.2.1 The Evolution and Intersectional Manifestations of Poverty in Brazil (1988-2023)

9.2.2 Judicializing Poverty Through Equality in the STF and the IACtHR

9.2.3 Bridging Judicialization and Social Change: Paths Forward

9.3 Judicializing Poverty: a (self-Sufficient) Response to a Socio-Political Problem?

References

Index.

What’s in a name? Shakespeare asked

How does law accommodate the socio-economic concept of poverty?

Judicializing poverty: the four-prong model for a legal assessment of poverty through equality

The evolution of poverty in Brazil (1988–2023)

Equality and poverty in the STF

Equality and poverty in the IACtHR

A comparative analysis and paths forward.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based upon online resource; title from PDF title page (Oxford Academic, viewed June 21, 2026).

Other Format:

Print version: Garcia Maia, Tainá Judging Poverty and Inequality in Brazil

ISBN:

9780198994046

0198994044

019899401X

9780198994015

OCLC:

1591401793

Publisher Number:

CIPO000376679

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license