Box 1916

Maxcy Hall

112 George Street

Providence, RI 02912

Telephone: (401) 863-2367

Sociology@brown.edu

 

Ph.D. expected 2010

Contact Information:
Brown University
Department of Sociology
Box 1916
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: (401) 575-1769
Fax: (401) 863-3213
Ana_Margarida_Esteves@brown.edu

Year of Entry: 2004

Previous Degrees:
M.A. in Sociology, Brown University , 2006
M.Sc. in European Studies, London School of Economics, 1998
B.A. in International Relations, Technical University of Lisbon, 1997

Areas of Interest:
Political Economy, Social Movements, Organizational Sociology, Sociology of Knowledge, Historical Sociology, Social Theory

Dissertation Abstract:

Tentative Title: Entrepreneurs and Citizens: Worker empowerment through integrative public spaces by the Brazilian Movement of Solidarity Economy

In this dissertation, I make an analysis of the circumstances under which organizing workers into worker-managed enterprises, as a social movement strategy, promotes their economic and political self-determination. The term worker-managed enterprise is used in this dissertation to refer to cooperatives, workers’ associations and networks of microentrepreneurs both in the formal and informal economy. Social movements and left-leaning governments in Latin America are adopting this strategy as a new attempt at worker empowerment by promoting public policies for the sector through state/civil society partnerships. I use as a case study the process of construction, by the Brazilian Movement of Solidarity Economy, of FBES - the Brazilian Forum of Solidarity Economy, as well as of two state-level Forums that are represented within this federal structure: those of Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul. These Forums are hereby conceptualized as integrative public spaces, meaning institutionalized structures of interaction that fulfill multiple roles. In this case, they integrate functions of:

• Deliberation on issues of policy-making among civil society members and between these and the state;
• Political education and skills development of workers taking part in cooperatives, workers’ associations and networks of microentrepreneurs;
• Support to the organizational development and economic activity of worker-managed enterprises.

The aim of these Forums is to promote sustainable alternatives to capitalist production by publicizing and promoting, in partnership with the state and in a collaborative effort among its members, the interests of worker-managed enterprises. This form of production has been growing in Brazil in the past two decades as a result of structural adjustment and growing unemployment. As most worker-managed enterprises are currently part of the informal economy, one of the goals of the Forums is to promote legal frameworks and public policies that facilitate their sustainable inclusion in the formal market. With this analysis, I aim to point out what is new and different about the Solidarity Economy Forums in Brazil in relation to previous strategies of worker empowerment promoted by working-class parties and labor unions.

With this dissertation, I have goals that encompass both the academic and activist sphere, in hopes of contributing to deepen the dialogue between the two spheres. On the one hand, I aim to contribute to the scholastic debate on participatory politics and the dynamics of the public sphere by studying a new and understudied form of civil society-built public space that integrates political, economic and educational functions. On the other hand, I also aim to bring insights that might contribute to the institutional strengthening not only of the Solidarity Economy Forums in Brazil, but also of nascent experiences around the world that take them as a reference.