Pobres “de bem”, pobres “marginais”: a relação estabelecidos e outsiders nas classes populares do Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

In this work I explore the sociability of grass-roots classes from the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro city intending to understand the way in which these people, who identify themselves as workers, imagine themselves regarding two other social strata with which they relate more: on one hand with other marginalized people and, on the other hand, with the middle class. The goal was to try to understand the eventual possibility of seeking social distinction and recognition of these actors and the mechanisms used by them for this purpose. Based on the results of this research, I also sought to understand the emotional needs and moral values that sustain and reproduce this particular relational dynamics. Therefore, I based myself on the idea that the mechanisms and structures that deepen and perpetuate inequalities are nontransparent and hidden from all people, and especially for those endowed with fewer material and symbolic resources, such as the grass-roots classes in Brazil. I also based myself on the idea that all social groups are embedded in a relational dynamic, in which each group fights for power differentials that define access to economic and symbolic resources.