O PROGRAMA BOLSA FAMÍLIA: impactos econômicos, socioculturais e políticos em pequenos e médios municípios do Rio Grande do Norte/Brasil

Abstract

This thesis contains results of studies on the Bolsa Família. The main objective was to understand the impacts of this program in the economic, social and political scenario in the medium and small municipalities, taking as empirical space Cerro Cora and Caicó, local entities in the Northeast region, state of Rio Grande do Norte, located in the Seridó Potiguar Region. To capture the object of study and achieve the established goals we resorted, methodologically, to the concepts of relational thinking, together with the notions of field, habitus and representation present in Bourdieu (2003, 2004, 2007, 2007a, 2007b). The choice of empirical supports was based on population size and level of human development. In the methodological development we favored a qualitative approach, illustrated by the quantitative aspects. The selection of subjects in the research resulted, in each municipality, in a set of people from different groups, associations, public and private entities, both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the program and professionals involved with its implementation. In the development of the research, we used semi-structured interviews as well as the focus group technique and a field diary to record the observations in both municipalities. The results allowed us the inference that the Bolsa Família, while provoking impacts on the listed aspects of these territorial bases, is also influenced by them, shaping itself in accordance with the format of its implementation. There was also the confirmation of the impacts of the program on all dimensions studied, and it was found that these impacts are not restricted to the population receiving the program; they encompass the population of these municipalities as a whole.