Concepts of Poverty among Social Actors in the Social Assistance Policy in the Fernando Henrique Cardoso Government

Abstract

This article presents part of the results and analyses of a study about the concepts of poverty held by social actors active in policies to fight poverty (The Solidarity Community Program and the Social Assistance Policy) during the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso. The methodology included bibliographic, documental and field research, using interviews and focus groups with significant subjects (politicians, public administrators, civil society leaders and specialists), to arrive at an understanding of the concept of poverty found among the different categories studied. The study demonstrated the predominance of continuities of conservative concepts, but also identified, principally among administrators, specialists, leaders and lefitist politicans, the apprehension of a politically more advanced understanding of the phenomenon of poverty.