Negócios sociais e antropologia : dois ensaios em economia do desenvolvimento

Abstract

The following study has been developed from the underlying motivation of understanding the diverse forms of poverty alleviation - firstly, from the private initiative, through the so called Social Businesses (SB); secondly, from the public initiative, focusing on International Development and its relationship with Social Anthropology and with qualitative aspects of the understanding of poverty. The first essay discusses the concept of SB, suggesting a new approach to its definition. Through in-depth interviews with social entrepreneurs in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, the research aimed at understanding issues such as the entrepreneurs’ motivations and difficulties, the tension between financial needs and social transformation and the entrepreneurs’ perspectives on SB. It was concluded, in the analysed cases, that the revenue generation for financial sustainability is still small and the impact is limited. It was also noted that the sector is still incipient in the city, what could indicate a growing potential, or could lead to the possibility that SBs might just be marginal experiences, with local relevance solely. The second essay is aimed at discussing possible contributions that Social Anthropology may have in debates and policy design within the International Development set. We present a brief overview of the connections between social anthropology and development, discussing historical perspectives and possible starting points for advancing in the discussion. We also discuss possible limitations for anthropological contributions and the possibilities for reconciling quantitative and qualitative interpretations of poverty and how the capture of the latter may contribute to the improvement on the efforts towards poverty alleviation.