“THE STREET IS AN ATTRACTION” – THE BRAZILIAN ELITE’S DISCOURSE ON PUBLIC POLICY

Abstract

This article analyzes the discourse of the Brazilian elite on poverty and the homeless population, taking as its empirical object the interview given by the then First Lady of the State of São Paulo, Bia Doria, in July 2020, in which she states that remaining homeless is an individual choice. Using a theoretical-analytical approach grounded in political sociology and literature on public policy, poverty, and social inequality, the study contrasts this discourse with empirical evidence and consolidated interpretations from the social, economic, and biomedical sciences. It draws on contributions from authors such as Lindblom, Reis, Schwartzman, Abramovay, and Katz, as well as data from the São Paulo Homeless Population Census (2019) and epidemiological information on morbidities associated with malnutrition and social vulnerability. The results show that the established narrative reproduces a Malthusian view of poverty, disregarding its structural determinants, socioeconomic inequalities, and the transparency of rights experienced by the homeless population. It is argued that such discourse contributes to the erosion of the perception of collective responsibility and to the legitimization of ineffective or exclusionary public policies. It is concluded that elites play a central role in the formulation and implementation of social policies and that denial of scientific evidence compromises the construction of public responses capable of addressing poverty, hunger, and food insecurity in a structural way.