2 Birkbeck L. Rev. 129 (2014)
Brazil's New Middle Class and the Effectiveness of Social Rights through Consumption: A Dialectic of Inclusion and Exclusion

handle is hein.journals/birkbek2 and id is 137 raw text is: Enzo Bello, Renata Piroli Mascarello and Rene Jos6 Keller Brazil's 'New Middle Class' and the Effectiveness of Social Rights through Consumption: A Dialectic of Inclusion and Exclusion ENZO BELLO, RENATA PIROLI MASCARELLO AND RENE JOSt KELLER* In a social panorama where consumption becomes a source of personal fulfilment, its practice does not seem to support an alternative path to that of bourgeois rationality. Recent government policies in Brazil encourage consumption as a way to offer greater autonomy to citizens, reflecting the emergence of the so-called 'new middle class'. This paper intends to gather evidence which answers the following questions: (i) May the extent of consumption contribute to the fortification of citizenship and social inclusion? (ii) Can the phenomenon of consumption be understood within the perspective of implementation of social rights? From the materialist dialectical method, this research examines, in the light of the Brazilian reality, points of conflict and convergence between the social facade (consumer) and the political facade (citizenship) of the person, in particular referring to the members of the 'new middle class.' 1. Introduction The so-called 'new middle class' in Brazil has been the target of several recent studies that seek to understand this phenomenon. * ENZo BELLO: PhD in Law at Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Reader at Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil. Researcher at Universidade de Caxias do Sul (UCS), Brazil. Co-leader of the Laboratory of Interdisciplinary Studies in Latin American Constitutional Law at Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil. Email: enzobello@gmail.com. RENATA PIROLI MASCARELLO: Master of Law candidate at Universidade de Caxias do Sul, Brazil. RENE JOsE KELLER: Master of Law at Universidade de Caxias do Sul, Brazil. The translations in this article are the authors' own, but all attempts have been made to clearly convey the meaning of the original texts to the reader. 129

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