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The MTST Politics of Social Rights: Counter-Conducts, Acts of Citizenship and a Radical Struggle Beyond Housing.
- Source :
- International Journal of Politics, Culture & Society; Dec2020, Vol. 33 Issue 4, p513-527, 15p
- Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- The Brazilian Movimento dos Trabalhadores sem Teto (MTST)—Homeless Workers' Movement—is a social movement that struggles for housing and for a radical transformation of capitalistic socio-economic relations. The present paper offers a problematization of the movement's plea to social rights. They are part of the movement's discourse and strategy. However, the activists' objective is more radical: they aim at a complete transformation of the Brazilian economy and society. By first discussing two sets of literatures—Critical Legal Theory and Governmentality Studies—this article illustrates the complexity and the ambivalences of a radical politics of rights. Then, by contrasting my ongoing ethnographic research with the work of James Holston and Lucy Earle, I discuss the relevance of a citizenship framework for the MTST's struggle. Finally, inspired by Foucault's concept of counter-conducts, the article argues that the movement's politics of rights represents an effective tactic to contrast neoliberal governmentality and to create radical democratic spaces of struggle and collective resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 08914486
- Volume :
- 33
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- International Journal of Politics, Culture & Society
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 147017704
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10767-020-09356-6