The black woman and social liberation

Whatsapp
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Telegram

By SOFIA CAMPOS TEIXEIRA*

Our rights, as provided for in the Brazilian constitution, only exist on paper and in the demagogic words of false leaders, who set themselves up as protectors of black people on opportune occasions.

Today marks the 61st anniversary of the abolition of slavery in Brazil, resulting from the arduous struggles waged by Patrocínio, Luiz Gama, Antônio Bento and others.[I]

More than any other, the struggles of May 13th, although simple, currently without great decorative adornments, nor bright and spectacular official apparatus, have deeply touched, today, not only the hearts of the black element, but of the white element as well.

And this happens because May 13th, if in 1888 it was considered the date of the liberation of slaves, today it represents the liberation of all those who work, all those who receive wages for any job, whether black or white, thus noting a modern slavery.

We always see the oppression of the strong over the weak, the exploitation of man by man.

If nature should belong to everyone; if man should not have the right to exploit the labor of his fellow man – the land and other means of production should be social property. All human beings, white or black, should enjoy equal social status, since it is not fair that while hunger and misery haunt the homes of some, others should indulge and waste at will.

As is well known, blacks constitute a large proportion of the hungry poor and, therefore, of modern slaves.[ii] The number of women is considerable. But the modern slave no longer represents the black woman, the mother of 88, who lived under the protection of the sugar mill owners, but rather the woman who is willing to fight for equality of social, cultural and economic conditions. Her ideal is to collaborate with her brothers for the cultural advancement of the black race in Brazil, because, from the much-vaunted Abolition to the present day, black people have always lived on the margins of society.

Everyone knows that after the First World War, the mentality of white and black women changed completely.

She will no longer submit to the simple condition of a housewife or a Black Mother of the slave quarters! No, gentlemen: the women who were true anonymous heroines during the last wars, who did everything for their countries, holding positions ranging from the highest to the lowest, these women wrote pages of great heroism, cooperating decisively in the end of the struggles.

Today, not only is Brazil different! The whole world is undergoing this transformation. Women now have professional freedom. They no longer dedicate themselves solely to waiting for a problematic marriage! No! The situation has evolved and with great lucidity. And women who have fought until today will continue to fight for a transformation in all social classes, since their collaboration in today's life is essential.

As a socialist, I believe that we can take this fight to every corner of the country, for the benefit of the community, because it is a sincere fight and not a ploy for personal gain like those we see on the eve of elections.

Looking at our geographical map, we can see the sad spectacle of the life of black Brazilians throughout the country. The old capitals of the North, such as Salvador, Recife, Fortaleza and other places are responsible for constantly presenting us with the social and economic panorama of those states, represented by the drama of migrations from the Northeast. From the capital of the Republic, we are already familiar with the problem of the hills and slums. Here in the State of São Paulo, in the capital and in the interior, the situation is also calamitous, and the black element stands out among the thousands of misfits. It is material poverty and moral poverty.

Our rights, as provided for in the Brazilian constitution, only exist on paper and in the demagogic words of false leaders, who set themselves up as protectors of black people on opportune occasions. (…) [iii]

Considering that, for the social, political or economic conquest of any people, a vigorous struggle against all adversaries is necessary, I call for the struggle for social, cultural and economic upliftment, especially black people, since they are the largest part of the Brazilian proletariat, whose expression of collective life has been until today ignorance, pauperism, immorality which, incontestably, are the path to tuberculosis and prisons, to the detriment of all human needs and even of the nation itself.

Comrades, here are, in brief, my thoughts, the result of my daily observation of the problem of the Negro. I therefore urge the women who are here and the men who know the value of their wives to educate themselves in the sense of elevating not only the Negro element, but the proletariat in general to the place to which it deserves, and thus we will have solved Brazil's greatest problem - complete social, legal and economic equality for all Brazilians. In this way we will have a true May 13th.

* Sofia Campos Teixeira She was a teacher at a primary school and at the Instituto Paulista de Surdos-Mudos; an activist in the black movement, a feminist activist and a socialist activist with the Democratic Left and the Brazilian Socialist Party.

(TEIXEIRA, 1949b, p. 4). [iv]
(SOFIA CAMPOS TEIXEIRA, 1949, p. 1).
(TEIXEIRA, 1949c).
(REACHED, 1949, p. 8). [v]
(SEMINARIES, 1951, p. 70). [vi]
(FOURTH TABLE, 1951, p. 369). [vii]

References


The Socialist Party rally in São Paulo (1949) was a great success. Socialist Newspaper, May 15, 1949, p. 8. Available here.

ARENDT, Hannah (2010). The absence of laws is inherent in the uprooted, Arbor, v. 186, n. 742, p. 195-197. Available here.

ARENDT, Hannah (1994). about the violence. Rio de Janeiro: Relume Dumará.

BASTIDE, Roger; FERNANDES, Florestan (1955). Race relations between blacks and whites in São Paulo. New York: Routledge.

BASTIDE, Roger (1982). Black crime in the state of São Paulo. In. NASCIMENTO, Abdias (org.), the angry black. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira Publishing House, p. 162-181. Available here.

BASTIDE, Roger (1944). Afro-Brazilian poetry. São Paulo: Martins Publishing House. Available here.

BICUDO, Virgína (1955). Attitudes of students in school groups towards the color of their classmates. In. BASTIDE, Roger; FERNANDES, Florestan. Race relations between blacks and whites in São Paulo. New York: Routledge, p. 227-310.

BISPO, Alexandre (2023). Black mother: a saint outside the church, Religion and Society, n. 43, v. 3, p. 73-98. Available here.

BORGES, Nestor (2024). Economic situation of black Brazilians – reasons and consequences, the earth is round🇧🇷 Available here.

BUTLER, Judith (2017), Is Judaism Zionism? In. BUTLER, Judith. Divergent paths: Jewishness and Criticism of Zionism. São Paulo: Boitempo, p. 119-153.

CAMPOS, Antonia (2014). Interfaces between sociology and social process: Integration of black people into class society and UNESCO research in São Paulo. Dissertation (Master's in Sociology) – Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). Available here.

UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE FOR THE CANDIDACY OF GERALDO CAMPOS DE OLIVEIRA (1950). Against enslaving capitalism, Socialist Newspaper, n. 66, September 23, 1950, p. 2. Available here.

CORTINA, Adela (2018). Aporophobia, rejection of the poor. Santiago: Editorial Planeta Chilena.

CUTI, Luiz (2007). ...And said the old militant José Correia Leite. New York: New York University Press.

WOMEN'S RIGHTS MUST BE EQUAL TO MEN'S RIGHTS (1950), Folha Socialista, n. 54, July 1, 1950, p. 6. Available here.

SCHOOLS AND COURSES (1942), Paulista Post Office, January 30, 1942, p. 9. Available here.

FANON, Frantz (1968). The Damned of the Earth. Rio de Janeiro: Brazilian Civilization.

FERNANDES, Florestan (1955). Color and changing social structure. In. BASTIDE, Roger; FERNANDES, Florestan. Race relations between blacks and whites in São Paulo. New York: Routledge, p. 67-122.

FERNANDES, Florestan (1975). Dependent capitalism and social classes in Latin America. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar Editores.

FERNANDES, Florestan (2008a). The integration of black people into class society, v. 1. New York: Routledge.

FERNANDES, Florestan (2008b). The integration of black people into class society, v. 2. New York: Routledge.

FRANCO, Cid (1950). The substitutes for slaves, Socialist Newspaper, n. 57, July 22, 1950, p. 4. Available here.

HECKER, Alexandre (1998). Sociable socialism: history of the democratic left in São Paulo. São Paulo: UNESP Publishing Foundation. Available here.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE of Deaf-Mutes (1953), Correio da Manhã, February 28, 1953, p. 10. Available here.

PAULISTA INSTITUTE for the Deaf-Mute (1954), Paulista Post Office, October 6, 1954, p. 5. Available here.

MERTON, Robert (1968). Sociology: theory and structure. Available here.

MORAIS, Viviane (undated). Afrofile🇧🇷 Available here.

MORENTE, Marcela (2015). Invading the public world: women's movements (1945-1964). Dissertation (Master's in History) – Postgraduate Program in Social History of the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences of the University of São Paulo (USP). Available here.

STUDENT MOVEMENT MAY 1ST (2024). In defense of Florestan Fernandes, the earth is round🇧🇷 Available here.

NABUCO, Joaquim (1885). Abolitionist campaign in Recife. Rio de Janeiro: TYP by G. Leuzinger & Sons. Available here.

NEW CANDIDATES for deputies from the democratic left (1947), Paulista Post Office, January 5, 1947, p. 5. Available here.

OLIVEIRA, Maybel (2018). Experimental black theater amidst activism and intellectuality: programmatic events held between 1945 and 1950. Dissertation (Master's in History) – Postgraduate Program in Social History of the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO). Available here.

THE CRUSADE FOR THE SECOND ABOLITION CONTINUES (1950), Quilombo, n. 10, June-July 1950, p. 8-9. Available here.

FOURTH ROUND TABLE of research on racial prejudice in Brazil (1951). Held in the Main Hall of the Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of USP, on July 24, 1951. Mimeo. In. Mass observation – group situation. Document available in the archive: PDF 02.04.4531. São Carlos: Special Collection of the Florestan Fernandes Fund (BCo/UFSCar), p. 349-441.

SEALE, Bobby (2020). Grab the time: the history of the Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton. Madrid: Postmetropolis Editorial; Euro-Mediterranean University Institute.

SECCO, Lincoln (2010). Translation of Marxism in Brazil: Caio Prado Júnior, Moorish, v. 1, n. 2, p. 7-22. Available here.

SEMINARS: meetings at the José do Patrocínio Association (1951). Mimeo. UNESCO Research in São Paulo. Document available in PDF file 02.04.4535. São Carlos: Florestan Fernandes Fund Special Collection (BCo/UFSCar), p. 1-138.

SILVEIRA, Paulo (2022). Florestan Fernandes and the Black Panthers, the earth is round🇧🇷 Available here.

SOFIA CAMPOS TEIXEIRA (1949). Files. Social Order Police Station. São Paulo: São Paulo State Archives (APESP/SP). Available here.

SOFIA CAMPOS TEIXEIRA (1950), New world, September 23, 1950, p. 5. Available here.

SOTERO, Edilza (2015) Black political representation in post-Estado Novo Brazil. Thesis (PhD in Sociology) – Postgraduate Program in Sociology of the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences of the University of São Paulo (USP). Available here.

TEIXEIRA, Jorge (2024). Black recovery – an economic problem, the earth is round🇧🇷 Available here.

TEIXEIRA, Sofia (1949a). The black woman and social liberation, Socialist Newspaper, n. 28, June 1, 1949, p. 6 and p. 8. Available here.

TEIXEIRA, Sofia (1949b). On domestic workers. Record 108021, vol. 4, Federation of Women of the State of São Paulo, p. 1-6. Social Order Police Station. São Paulo: Public Archives of the State of São Paulo (APESP/SP).

TEIXEIRA, Sofia (1949c). Letter to the Federation of Women of the State of São Paulo, June 17, 1949. Record 108021, vol. 4, Federation of Women of the State of São Paulo. Social Order Department. São Paulo: Public Archives of the State of São Paulo (APESP/SP).

TEIXEIRA, Sofia (1947). September 28, The New Horizon, n. 13, August 1947, p. 2. Available here.

TEIXEIRA, Sofia (1946). Something feminine, senzala, n. 1, January 1946, p. 21. Available here.

Notes


[I] Research, editing and notes by Diogo Valença de Azevedo Costa (UFRB) and Paulo Fernandes Silveira (FEUSP and GPDH-IEA).

[ii] This text was published in Socialist Newspaper, in 1949. This is the transcription of the speech that Sofia Teixeira gave at the headquarters of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), at the event that commemorated the 61st anniversary of the liberation of slaves in Brazil – May 13, 1988. Febus Gikovate and Luiz Lobato also spoke at this event.

Four activists from the black movement who participated in the UNESCO research in São Paulo were also members of the PSB: Sofia Teixeira, Luiz Lobato, Geraldo Campos de Oliveira and Francisco Lucrécio (CUTI, 2007).

In his book on the democratic left, Alexandre Hecker refers to Sofia Teixeira as: “a black woman symbol for socialist democracy” (1998, p. 96).

According to Hecker, in addition to being the main promotional body for the PSB in São Paulo, Socialist Newspaper became “the element par excellence for rallying and unifying its disparate ranks” (1998, p. 111). One of the newspaper’s editors was Antonio Candido de Mello e Souza, a professor at USP and friend of Roger Bastide and Florestan Fernandes.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Antonio Candido, Sofia Teixeira, Luiz Lobato, Geraldo Oliveira and Francisco Lucrécio ran for legislative elections for the Democratic Left and the PSB (SOTERO, 2015).

By considering black workers as modern slaves, Sofia Teixeira echoes an idea common to other PSB activists.

A text from the University Committee for the candidacy of Geraldo Campos de Oliveira, published in Socialist Newspaper, argues that one of the reasons for students to support this black candidate is the union of forces against enslaving capitalism: “the solution to the problem of the black man, the overcoming of capitalist relations of production and the annihilation of the exploitation of man by man” (1950, p. 2).

In the article “The Substitutes for Slaves”, also published in Socialist Newspaper, then councilman Cid Franco states that a socialist revolution would be like a second abolition: “In the time of black slavery, there were slaves who thought their freedom was impossible. (…) Today, depoliticized, without class consciousness, there are workers who also think this second abolition, preached by socialists, is impossible: the abolition of private property of the means of production and distribution” (1950, p. 4).

Cid Franco acknowledges that the title of his article was inspired by a campaign speech by the abolitionist leader Joaquim Nabuco, delivered in a public square: “artists and workers, you are nothing more than the substitutes for slaves” (1885, p. 51).

A month before Cid Franco published this article, the newspaper Quilombo produced a report entitled “The crusade for the second abolition continues” (1950). The report reproduces speeches by Franco and other politicians in defense of the rights of black people. Bill No. 562, which would give rise, in 1951, to the Afonso Arinos Law, is considered by the report as a triumph in the crusade for the second abolition.

Apparently, Sofia Teixeira and other PSB activists understood the second abolition as being part of the struggle for the creation of socialism in Brazil.

The theme of the second abolition was taken by activist Nestor Borges (2024) to the UNESCO research round tables.

[iii] The final sentences of this paragraph have been omitted, as their transcription by Socialist Newspaper has mistakes that make this passage meaningless.

[iv] This is one of the pages of the paper “On Domestic Workers”, which Sofia Teixeira presented at the First State Women’s Convention, held in São Paulo in February 1949 (MORENTE, 2015). This document can be found in v. 4 of Record 108021, of the Federation of Women of the State of São Paulo, in the Public Archives of the State of São Paulo (APESP).

On March 15, 1951, the São Paulo police closed the São Paulo Women's Federation and seized all documents that were in its headquarters, “under the allegation of carrying out anti-national activities, since its members had links with communism” (MORENTE, 2015, p. 30).

From its creation in 1948 until June 1949 (TEIXEIRA, 1949c), Sofia Teixeira was president of the Women's Federation of São Paulo. She was replaced by Helena Maria Nioac, wife of Caio Prado Júnior (SOTERO, 2015). Like other activists of the Federation, Teixeira was monitored by the DOPS during this period (SOFIA CAMPOS TEIXEIRA, 1950).

In 1945, Sofia Teixeira began to direct the Women's Department of the São Paulo Directory of the National Convention of Black Brazilians (SOTERO, 2015).

She published some articles in the press about the rights of working women (TEIXEIRA, 1946; TEIXEIRA, 1947; TEIXEIRA, 1949a). In the article “September 28”, the date on which the Lei do Ventre Livre (Free Womb Law) was enacted (1871), Teixeira refers to Mãe Preta, one of the first symbols of feminism in Brazil (BISPO, 2023).

At the end of the article, Sofia Teixeira criticizes the exploitation of white and black workers in class society:

“Once the slaves were freed, free and paid labor was instituted, and productive activities grew rapidly. The feudal lords then strove to organize new economic methods, creating a new type of slave in Brazil – the wage earner. This new class included, and continues to this day, men and women, whites and blacks, fighting for a better standard of living” (1947, p. 2).

With the support of the Teatro Experimental do Negro (TEN), Sofia Teixeira collaborated in the creation of the Domestic Workers Association (SOTERO, 2015). Founded on May 10, 1950, its first directors were Elza de Souza and Arinda Serafim (OLIVEIRA, 2018).

In the communication “About domestic workers”, Sofia Teixeira defends some basic rights for domestic workers:

“a) annual or semi-annual paid vacation; b) weekly rest, by agreement between employers and employees; c) daily work schedule; d) advance notice from both parties; e) stability; f) retirement; g) support for the children of employees, as they will not always have employers who accept their children together; h) medical service, which may be provided immediately at any of the Retirement Institutes, instead of the 'Legal Medical Service'” (1949b, p. 4-5).

[v] This image is from the rally that took place on May 1, 1949, where 3000 people gathered at Largo 7 de Setembro (ALCANÇOU, 1949). Sofia Teixeira was one of the speakers for the PSB. In the XNUMXth century, there was a pillory in this region (MORAIS, undated), and the Church of Remédios was also there, which housed the abolitionist movement of the Caifazes, led by Antônio Bento.

In newspapers from the 1940s and 1950s, references to Sofia Teixeira's activities appear, especially her participation as a speaker at rallies organized by the PSB. In 1947, Teixeira ran for state deputy for the Democratic Left (NOVOS CANDIDATOS, 1947). In 1950, she ran for federal deputy for the PSB (SOFIA CAMPOS TEIXEIRA, 1950).

A report published in 1942 records Sofia Teixeira's approval in the exams for qualification to become a private teacher (SCHOOLS AND COURSES, 1942). In 1953, Teixeira was among the students approved for the second year of the Teacher Training Course in special teaching for the deaf and mute (INSTITUTO NACIONAL, 1953). In October 1954, a note from the Instituto Paulista de Surdos-Mudos (Paulista Institute for the Deaf and Mute) reported the unveiling of a portrait of Teixeira to mark the first anniversary of her death (INSTITUTO PAULISTA, 1).

[vi] This is a note from Florestan Fernandes' research notebooks about the first meeting with women activists from the black movement. The UNESCO research on racial prejudice in São Paulo, coordinated by Roger Bastide and Florestan, promoted round tables with men and women activists, and meetings only with women activists, at the José do Patrocínio Association (CAMPOS, 2014). The director of José do Patrocínio at that time was Jorge Teixeira, who was Secretary of the Commission for the Study of Racial Relations of the UNESCO research (TEIXEIRA, 2024). Sofia Teixeira also played an important role at José do Patrocínio (CAMPOS, 2014).

[vii] In early 1964, shortly before the military coup, Florestan Fernandes defended his professorship thesis The integration of black people into class society. In an explanatory note, Florestan states that the text “had to be written somewhat in a hurry, between January 1963 and April 1964” (2014a, p. 21). It was in this political climate that the thesis was written. In September 1964, Florestan was arrested by the military (STUDENT MOVEMENT 1º DE MAIO, 2024).

In his thesis, Florestan revisits the transcripts of the round tables he participated in with the black movement activists in the development of UNESCO research on racial prejudice (BASTIDE; FERNANDES, 1955). Sofia Teixeira's testimony on the incidence of alcoholism in the black community of São Paulo in the period after abolition was analyzed by Florestan (2008a) in the chapter entitled: pauperization and social anomie.

In the 1950s, alcoholism, begging, vagrancy, prostitution and disorder were considered crimes. A year before the UNESCO research began, representing the delegation of professors from USP, Roger Bastide (1982) presented a thesis at the XNUMXst Brazilian Black Congress against the prejudiced stereotype that black people had a racial propensity for criminality.

Alcoholism in the black community was also addressed in UNESCO research texts, especially in the research developed by Virgínia Bicudo (1955). In his texts for UNESCO research, Florestan also analyzed pauperism and vagrancy after abolition. The concept of anomie appears in the passages in which Florestan addressed the social disorganization of black people, both enslaved and freed, during the servile regime.

In the thesis The integration of black people into class society, the concept of anomie appears linked to the testimonies of Sofia Teixeira and other socialist activists of the black movement who question not only alcoholism and vagrancy, but the apathy of part of the black community in the face of the social injustices to which they are subjected in class society. These testimonies seem to indicate the frustration with a revolution that was slow to happen.

One of Florestan's references in the use of the concepts of anomie and apathy is Robert Merton's functionalist sociology. For this author, anomie translates the inability of a social group to adapt to the values ​​of a given society. Withdrawal and apathy would be manifestations of social anomie: “substantial abandonment of both previously cherished cultural goals and institutionalized practices directed toward such goals” (MERTON, 1968, p. 263).

They may be included in the category of people who do not share the common scale of values: “psychotics, artists, pariahs, outcasts, wanderers, beggars, chronic drunkards and drug addicts” (MERTON, 1968, 227). Robert Merton’s sociological analyses are based on rigorous empirical research. He seeks to identify the variables involved in each social phenomenon, avoiding erroneous generalizations.

This can be a strategy to deconstruct stereotypes. This is what Robert Merton did in his study on poverty and crime: “‘Poverty’ is not an isolated variable, it is only one within a complex of identifiable and interdependent social and cultural variables. Poverty itself and the consequent limitation of opportunities are not sufficient to produce a high and conspicuous proportion of criminal behavior” (1968, p. 220).

Sofia Teixeira’s testimony about the conformism of a part of the black community is quite harsh: “Although they had previously accepted all the forms of oppression they had been victims of, after the abolition, freed, once masters of themselves, of their own will, many of those who did not know where they were going or what they wanted, lost their will to lead, their initiative, their self-direction. And then, placed on the margins of society, often seeing all entrances blocked, they began to tread the path of vice, of decline, they relaxed, they gave themselves over to a fatal and pernicious conformism” (QUARTA MESA, 1951, p. 369).

In his thesis, Florestan questions the extent of the incidence of alcoholism in the black community of São Paulo: “Alcoholism constitutes another social problem, whose occurrence in the 'black community' has been exaggerated and misunderstood. (…) In quantitative terms, it seems that the number of alcoholics per se was small, either in itself or in comparison with the high number of regular visitors to bars and taverns” (2008a, p. 195).

In one of the texts prepared for the UNESCO research, Florestan lists several strategies of resistance and rebellion by enslaved black people: “The documentation demonstrates that such outbreaks of maladjustments and social conflicts, inherent to the Brazilian servile regime itself, occurred abundantly in São Paulo” (1955, p. 89).

After the abolition, several movements of awareness and rejection of the oppression imposed on the black community emerged spontaneously. However, according to Florestan, “the rebellion that was being attempted did not have the character of a revolution against the established order” (2008b, p. 9). In the interwar period, the organization of black protest gained strength and managed to “shake the apathy of the 'black community'” (FERNANDES, 2008b, p. 12).

In a certain way, in these works, Florestan incorporates the question formulated by Caio Prado Júnior in his Marxist interpretation of Brazilian reality: “where to find the historical subject of social change after studying this reality?” (SECCO, 2010, p. 16).

Florestan's research on impoverishment and social anomie aims to understand why the rebellions of the black community did not generate a revolution against the established order.

At a conference with other Marxist researchers, held in 1971 in Mexico, Florestan uses the concept of anomie to analyze what would prevent the dispossessed masses from assuming the role of subjects of the revolution: “The absence of certain structural dimensions and certain dynamisms means that class contradictions are dampened, annulled and, as a rule, little dramatized as and as such (thanks to the systematic oppression, widespread omission and anomie of the dispossessed masses)” (1975, p. 35-36).

In the mid-1970s, Florestan changed his interpretation when he became acquainted with the works of Frantz Fanon (1968) and the Black Panthers (SILVEIRA, 2022). Against orthodox Marxism, Fanon and the Black Panthers defend the possibility of forming the dispossessed masses to become subjects of the revolution: “organizing the brother who is pimping, the brother who is prostituting himself, the unemployed, the oppressed, the brother who is robbing banks, everyone who is not politically conscious” (SEALE, 2020, p. 45).

In the book about the violence, Hannah Arendt ironizes the theses of Fanon and the Black Panthers about the revolutionary power of lumpenproletariat. In the same period, Arendt argued in the The New York Times that “anomie (lawlessness) is inherent in all uprooted people” (2010, p. 195). This apparent aporophobia in Arendt’s positions, if we are allowed to use, in this case, Adela Cortina’s concept (2018), was also directed at poor Jewish communities (BUTLER, 2017), the main origin of the Marxist concept of lumpenproletariat.

Interestingly, Merton's theory of anomie does not preclude the dispossessed masses from becoming subjects of revolution: “The result of anomie may be only a prelude to the formulation of new norms, and it is this reaction that we have described as 'rebellion' in the typology of adaptation. (…) When rebellion becomes endemic in a substantial part of society, it provides a potential for revolution, which reformulates both the normative and the social structure” (1968, p. 267).


the earth is round there is thanks to our readers and supporters.
Help us keep this idea going.
CONTRIBUTE