Social Policies in Times of Austerity and Populism

Featuring the latest research by Brazilian-based scholars previously inaccessible to an English-speaking audience, this book is a timely, authoritative, multidisciplinary overview of social policies in Brazil during the Bolsonaro populist presidency. The breadth of policies studied herein provides clues on the political agenda, preferences, and strategies during this tumultuous period in Brazil's history.
Divided into four parts, Natália Sátyro and her team of experts begin by explaining the trajectory of the Brazil's political landscape, including the growth of a populist right-wing movement, the economic crisis and the increase in poverty and inequality in Brazil prior, and the threat to democracy brought about by disinformation. Part Two discusses social security, social assistance, conditional cash transfers and healthcare. Part Three analyses the neoliberal strategies to social investment policies, specifically labor, family, and education. In Part Four, the authors turn their attention to non-conventional topics that are not typically included in research on retrenchment, including the environment, indigenous rights and police violence and gun control.
Social Policies in Times of Populism and Austerity is unhesitatingly recommended to all those who teach welfare state politics, comparative public policy, development studies, Brazilian politics, and right-wing politics.