HUNGER, FOOD ASSISTANCE AND RIGHTS IN BRAZIL: POLITICS OF EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE PANDEMIC

Abstract

Hunger is a problem present in Brazilian history since its territorial formation and that can be mitigated or aggravated from decisions and certain conjunctures, such as the ultraliberal economic policy implemented, especially since 2016. With the increase in hunger rates in Brazil caused by the absence of effective public policies to deal with the issue during the COVID-19 pandemic, civil society has mobilized even more to promote food assistance. Based on this observation, the purpose of this article is to analyze food assistance by tensioning the dichotomy between right and assistance. The actions are diffuse and very different from each other, which is why we have made a cut based on the understanding of the interviewed groups themselves that the effective way out of hunger does not occur in the act of giving, but rather in a structural change. Based on the literature review, interviews and data analysis, it was concluded that there is a political power within these movements, conceiving politics as a politicization of daily life which goes beyond the public governmental apparatus and constitutional rights.