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The Limits to Institutional Engagement: Negotiating Housing Policy the Nice Way

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Transgressive Citizenship and the Struggle for Social Justice

Part of the book series: Studies of the Americas ((STAM))

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Abstract

This chapter provides a close-up study of the movements’ relationships with the three levels of Brazilian government (federal, subnational state and municipal). It explores how these fluctuate, along with the electoral fortunes of the Workers’ Party, and examines the workings of participatory forums. These experiments in participatory democracy have garnered much attention and considerable praise in the academic literature. However, this chapter illustrates how these spaces can be manipulated by incumbent governments on both the left and the right of the political spectrum. It also demonstrates how the movements’ involvement in these participatory arenas cannot be separated out from their more radical approach to engagement with the state—the building occupations for which they have become famous.

I went to the municipal housing department high up in the Predio Martinelli for a meeting between the UMM, and Bette França, Nancy Cavalhete e Silva and Walter Abrahão (the three main officials the movement was dealing with at the time). The idea of the meeting was to check the housing department’s list of those receiving the Bolsa Aluguel (emergency rent support) with the lists the movement has. The UMM wanted to make sure that those who are no longer eligible to receive the bolsa (as they have moved to permanent new homes or are deemed ‘ineligible’ or have received housing credit) according to the mayor’s office match up with the movement’s own lists. Walter came late into the meeting, loudly interrupted it and started kissing hellos and slapping people on the back even though a discussion was going on. Later in the meeting he joked that he would stand alongside Diogo as his deputy for a seat on the municipal housing council. Diogo smiled weakly at this. Afterwards I asked Diogo what that display had been all about. Diogo pulled a face and said, ‘Of course he’s not my friend. I know that. He knows that. But you just have to play along.’ (Extract from the author’s research diary, 27.07.2007)

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Notes

  1. 1.

    It should be noted here that participatory budgeting has not been a success in São Paulo, and that the participatory spaces that the housing movements are involved in are policy sector councils in the area of housing. Unlike participatory budgeting which incumbent governments can choose to establish, policy councils in many sectors are now a legal requirement at the various levels of the state.

  2. 2.

    Interview with Elaine, 04.12.14.

  3. 3.

    Interview with Gaetano, 08.06.07.

  4. 4.

    Interview with Benjamin, 25.11.14.

  5. 5.

    A person or popular organization that deals with right-wing governments.

  6. 6.

    This is a reference to the municipal government of Gilberto Kassab, of the Democratas party, generally perceived to be on the centre-right of the political spectrum. Given the country’s recent history of military dictatorship, Brazilian politicians rarely refer to themselves or their parties as ‘right-wing’, which can be taken as a pejorative term. Walter Abrahão, a personal friend of Kassab, appointed by him as commercial director of the municipal housing company, COHAB, reacted angrily when I referred to the Democratas as right-wing in an interview, 15.06.07.

  7. 7.

    Interview with Benjamin, 05.06.07.

  8. 8.

    Ibid.

  9. 9.

    Interview with Ana, 27.11.14.

  10. 10.

    As was detailed in Chap. 5, a number of movement leaders work in the parliamentary offices of elected PT politicians.

  11. 11.

    Interview with Adana, 06.07.07.

  12. 12.

    The word Anderson uses is denúncia, a term equivalent to ‘accusation’ or ‘charge’ used in legal proceedings. References to the law and the criminalization of the state will be examined in detail in Chap. 7.

  13. 13.

    Interview with Anderson, 26.06.07.

  14. 14.

    Interview with Ivana, 01.06.07.

  15. 15.

    Interview with Raquel Rolnik, 17.07.07.

  16. 16.

    Interview with Cid Blanco Jr., 14.07.07.

  17. 17.

    Interview with Benjamin, 05.06.07.

  18. 18.

    Somewhat ironically, the movement is calling for better-off households to be eligible for the MVMC component that provides the highest subsidy—known as Band 1. They have traditionally campaigned for households living on up to three minimum wages per month, but now argue that the current R$1600 per month income cap for Band 1 excludes households the movement considers to be poor but who have slightly higher wages, reflecting the elevated cost of living in São Paulo.

  19. 19.

    This type of personal relationship was taken to an extreme by Ivana, who was in regular telephone contact with the president of the Caixa Económica Federal (CEF), which is the main provider of housing credit to low-income families in Brazil.

  20. 20.

    Interview with Raquel Rolnik, 17.07.07.

  21. 21.

    Although in theory the state housing secretariat and the CDHU are separate entities, in practice, they have the same director and are housed in the same building.

  22. 22.

    Interview with Diogo, 28.11.14.

  23. 23.

    Interview with Bette França, 26.07.07.

  24. 24.

    Meeting with COHAB representatives, 30.03.07.

  25. 25.

    Meeting with COHAB representatives, 27.07.10.

  26. 26.

    Email communication with Rosemary, UMM volunteer, 17.07.08.

  27. 27.

    Cornwall (2007) notes a similar reluctance on the part of the mayor and health secretary in Cabo to ensure the proper functioning of the municipal health councils.

  28. 28.

    Interview with Ana, 27.11.14.

  29. 29.

    The election of Lula to the presidency is described in similar terms.

  30. 30.

    Interview with Cristiano, 09.08.07.

  31. 31.

    Interview with Ricardo, 04.10.07.

  32. 32.

    Interview with Rebeca, 05.06.07.

  33. 33.

    Interview with Anderson, 26.06.07.

  34. 34.

    Interview with Rachel, 03.10.07.

  35. 35.

    Interview with Cristiano, 09.08.07.

  36. 36.

    Interview with the representative of Gaspar Garcia, 28.11.14.

  37. 37.

    Interview with Adana, 19.11.14.

  38. 38.

    Interview with a UMM member who has taken up a post in COHAB.

  39. 39.

    This is an echo of the rural MST’s ‘Red April’, in which it carries out mass occupations and protest marches.

  40. 40.

    Interview with Ana, 19.06.07.

  41. 41.

    The legal case against the municipality in support of recipients of the bolsa aluguel provided further weight to the UMM’s argument that the government behaves illegally.

  42. 42.

    Interview with Anderson, 26.06.07.

  43. 43.

    Interview with Luiz Kohara, 27.03.07.

  44. 44.

    Interview with Diogo, 12.06.07.

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    Lucy Earle

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Earle, L. (2017). The Limits to Institutional Engagement: Negotiating Housing Policy the Nice Way. In: Transgressive Citizenship and the Struggle for Social Justice. Studies of the Americas. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51400-0_6

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