Familismo, maternalismo e políticas sociais : o caso da política nacional de microcrédito do governo Lula

Abstract

The granting of the low-income population through micro credit has been held in several countries, mainly as a way to combat poverty. Much of the population served is not only without an alternative income, but without access to loans for fostering economic activities because it is excluded from the traditional banking services. However, most microcredit loans has been held by women. This trend is related to the finding that female-headed households tend to have the worst economic conditions, which would mean a feminization of poverty. This direct relationship between poverty and women has resulted in the prioritization of women for anti-poverty policies as a means to promote their empowerment through access to economic resources. In Brazil women also has emerged as the main borrowers of microcredit loans, mainly under the National Program for Productive Microcredit (PNPMO), a generation of work and income program. In Brazil, women's access to microcredit is associated with the actions of the Secretary of Policies for Women (SPM/PR) to promote the economic empowerment of women through access to this resource type and the stimulus to female entrepreneurship. Thus, the prospects of feminization of poverty and empowerment permeate the issue of gender and public policy, as well as the form of participation of women in social policies in Brazil, where the ideals of familism and maternalism delimit the design of these policies. Considering this scenario, this research is to address the promotion of women's access to micro-credit as a result of a consensus that expresses an interpretation of the relationship of women to the economic (feminization of poverty, women heads of household, empowerment/autonomy and entrepreneurship female). From the Brazilian case, we point out that familism and maternalism produce effects not only on policies for women, but also on policies that, although the family focus, aim at its realization through the leadership of women. Therefore, there is an interweaving of the ideals of familism and maternalism the "new" categories: the feminization of poverty and women heads of household, passing the proposal emphasizes the need to economically empower women. This justification, that makes sense by naturalization of these categories themselves. In addition, another check is that the role given to women in social policies can have a conservative character for meeting a model of welfare policies with familista design with an emphasis on motherhood. But on the other hand, may be part of a policy proposal is nevertheless progressive to try through this arrangement, justify and ensure greater participation and inclusion of women in public policy.