(Il)licit economies in Brazil: an ethnographic perspective: Economias (i)lícitas no Brasil: uma perspectiva etnográfica

Gabriel Feltran

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: Illicit economies are an issue of paramount importance and an opportunity for social mobility for millions in Brazil. The literature about them lacks empirical accuracy and less normative interpretive keys. Based on field research conducted between 2005 and 2018, this paper explores two stories: i) that of a young man working for illegal markets in the outskirts of São Paulo; and ii) that of a Toyota Hilux he stole. It adopts an approach centered on a theory of everyday action and focused on the boundary between legal and illegal and its pragmatic social effects. I argue the lack of public regulation of illicit economies has, over the last few decades, prevented their actors from obtaining social rights and started a vicious cycle of violence and reproduction of inequalities on a social level, as well as given rise to criminal populism in the public arena.

Keywords: illicit economies; Violence; Inequalities; São Paulo: Brazil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 9 pages
Date: 2019-06-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hme
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Published in Journal of Illicit Economies and Development, 4, June, 2019, 1(2), pp. 145-154. ISSN: 2516-7227

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:101058

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