Judging Poverty and Inequality in Brazil

The book explores how courts confront poverty and inequality in a postcolonial society shaped by structural discrimination. Using insights from law, sociology, and political science, it analyzes 1988-2023 rulings by Brazil's Supreme Court and the Inter-American Court to assess their potential for transformative social change.

Judging Poverty and Inequality in Brazil offers an unprecedented empirical analysis of the judicialisation of poverty in Brazil. Anchored in the Brazilian context - a postcolonial society where structural and intersectional discrimination continues to correlate with poverty today - the book explores the complex relationship between poverty and inequality, enriching critical debates on how law can more effectively respond to material deprivation and social exclusion. Its analysis centres on the case law of two prominent courts with jurisdiction over the Brazilian State: the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court (STF) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR).The book unfolds in two parts. Part I examines the theoretical interconnections between poverty and inequality, drawing on law, sociology, and political science. Part II turns to the Brazilian experience. It tracks the evolution of poverty from the promulgation of the 1988 Constitution, which marked the start of a new constitutional era in the country after more than two decades of military dictatorship, to 2023. It then analyses how the STF and the IACtHR have addressed poverty and inequality in their case law, assessing the impact of these decisions on poverty reduction and its intersectional manifestations in Brazil.Judging Poverty and Inequality in Brazil offers a compelling and critical examination of whether -and to what extent - courts can promote transformative social change and impact poverty eradication and alleviation in an unequal democracy. It is essential reading for those interested in the interplay between poverty, inequality, and the work of courts.