Argumentum was a semi-annual publication from 2009 to 2015, becoming quarterley from 2016. It is linked to the Postgraduate program in Social Policy at the Federal University of Espírito Santo. It is classified as A1 by Qualis Periódicos. Of an academic nature, it has an interdisciplinary character and publishes research, articles and discussions on the themes of Social Policy, State and Society and their diverse interactions. It also opens up spaces for other relevant works on the theme according to Section Policies. The mission of the journal is to be a periodical of excellence in the area of Social Service by means of the publication of research, articles and discussions on the themes of Social Policy, State and Society and their diverse interactions.
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Política Social da UFES
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Expediente: Argum., Vitória, v. 17, 2025.
Copyright (c) 2025 Argumentum https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Editorial Argumentum, v. 17, 2025 (Publicação contínua).
Forms of capital, fictitious wealth, and the externalisation of recent capitalist crises
This article identifies the characteristics and particularities of recent capitalist wealth and crises based on the functional forms of capital and its processes of autonomisation and Marx’s (1985) fictitious capital in particular. In addition to explaining the constitution of the forms of capital, it discusses some indicators that point to the expressions of capitalist crises observed at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries.
Universality in digital health: digitalisation and datafication in the Unified Health System (SUS)
This article analyses how universality is addressed in Brazil’s Digital Health Strategy (ESD28). It starts, Centre for from the idea that this principle, enshrined in the 1988 Federal Constitution, emerged as an ethical imperative in modern times but became an adjective under neoliberalism. Using a qualitative methodology and bibliographic and documentary sources, it was observed that ESD28 led to the development of telehealth in remote areas and offered specialties but that it reproduces technological dependence and the risk to digital sovereignty. Access to information should not be confused with universal access to comprehensive healthcare, although it can contribute to this end. The weaknesses of infrastructure and interoperability in the Unified Health System (SUS) in Brazil together with digital inequality constrain universality.
Priscilla dos Santos Peixoto Borelli Tavares
Brazilian immigration in Portugal: State and power relations
Recently, migratory determinants of countries in the global North have shifted public opinion, policies, and relations between countries and human rights. This article presents the results of a doctoral research project and analyses the relationship between immigration and the mechanisms of State power. It focusses on the living conditions of Brazilian immigrants awaiting regularisation in Portugal. The methodology follows qualitative procedures with a mixed approach, using semi-structured interviews and online questionnaires directed at the immigrant population. Results point to the Portuguese state's governmental tactics that create a bureaucratic limbo, block fundamental rights, and result in the precariousness of immigrant life and citizenship.
The status of occasional benefits within Social Assistance Policy: some notes
This article reflects on occasional benefits within Social Assistance Policy, problematising the main challenges to their implementation from a rights perspective. It employs bibliographic research and documentary sources from a survey available on the World Wide Web, based on historical-dialectical materialism. It concludes that the trajectory of occasional benefits has faced obstacles related to their definition, regulation, and funding, and that this has hindered their achievement as a social right.
Maria da Conceição Vasconcelos Gonçalves
Determinations of class, race and sex in the Sergipe prison system
This article offers a critical reflection on the prison system and its class, race, and gender determinants, and its implications for Black women in Sergipe. Using an exploratory survey and Marxist analysis based on documentary sources, it problematises indicators that demonstrate a process of the mass incarceration of women, based primarily on the feminisation of poverty and the so-called war on drugs. It reveals that these women are subject to rights violations and exposes the involvement of the racist-patriarchal policies operated by the Brazilian/Sergipe State under the aegis of the current capitalist stage.
Fundamentals of Social Work: analysis of the debate present at XVII ENPESS
This article quantitatively and qualitatively analyses the presence of the debate on the Fundamentals of Social Work in the annals of the XVII ENPESS, held in 2022 in Rio de Janeiro. The analysis considers the various perspectives on the understanding of the Fundamentals of Social Work. The article highlights authors who have dedicated themselves to this debate and demonstrates the varied definitions that they have constructed on the fundamentals of the profession. It points out the existence of three main trends in the discussion and, finally, presents the results of the research through an analysis that points to a paucity of output on this theme in the XVII ENPESS and signals a lack of clarity around a conception of Fundamentals among these authors.
Theoretical and methodological foundation.
Gramsci and Social Work: philology as a method of study
This article presents the methodologies developed since the 1970s for the reading and study of the Cadernos do cárcere. The appropriation of the Cadernos by Social Service is investigated and an interpretive hypothesis is made associated with two cycles of Gramscian research in which the outcome depends on the sources of access to the work. Finally, a reading of Gramsci is suggested that seeks the “rhythm of thought” through a chronological reading of the entirety and fragmentary nature of the notes, understanding their nuances, developments, and reformulations, and how the Brazilian “critical-thematic” edition can offer endurance in this regard. It concludes that the eventual incorporation by social workers of updated reading tools and even new interpretations will, once again, generate important research.
Anti-crime package and drug policy in Brazil under the Bolsonaro government
This text analyses measures taken by the Bolsonaro government, specifically: the Anti-Crime Package and Law nº 13,840, of June 5, 2019, which instituted the New National Drug Policy. It identifies the use of crime as a strategic issue, especially for political purposes, as a way of earning positive evaluations of the government by the population. It also recognises the use of fear and a sense of insecurity as elements to justify the removal of fundamental rights, through the enactment of more onerous laws and increased control, as witnessed in daily city-life.
Political polarization in the presidential elections (2018 and 2022): the Northeast and the “others”
This research analyses the discourse surrounding Northeastern migration in social media posts on Instagram and Twitter (X-Twitter) during the 2018 and 2022 presidential elections. The study reveals that perceptions of the Northeast are symbolic and shaped by stereotypes that reinforce inequality and prejudice. Employing a qualitative approach, using Content Analysis, the research investigated how these narratives place Northeasterners in a subordinate position and what these stereotypes reveal about the “social question” in Brazil. The results show that the posts often stigmatise the Northeast, blaming the region for socioeconomic problems, and exploit the “social question” as a form of entertainment without addressing its structural causes. These representations reinforce misleading imaginaries and strengthen exclusionary discourse and historical violence.
The aging process and challenges for the job market in Brazil
This article sets out the insertion rates of elderly people within the Brazilian job market to highlight the challenges of aging in capitalist society. It is based on mixed documentary research, focused on indexes provided by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, the Institute of Applied Economic Research, the Annual Social Information List, and the National Employment System, supported by a bibliographic survey. There is an evident age bias towards the inclusion of elderly people in the job market. The elderly population is not the most likely to experience unemployment and joblessness, it is in second place in terms of access after young people. Research bodies indicate that since 2016 the number of unemployed elderly people has been increasing, and that, faced with this scenario, they have been entering the informal job market.
This article discusses samba and considers it’s denotations as presented in recent academic publications. Bibliographic research was conducted through a survey of the Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações, BDTD) on the subject. The research indicates that the statement that samba is a musical genre symbolic of national culture, and not of African-Brazilian culture, conspires with the violent erasure of references to an African culture that was reinvented in Brazil by the diaspora, and that it is functional to the myth of racial democracy in the country. Samba stands out as one of the main expressions of inventiveness and Black resistance of African roots in Brazil, whose contributions were decisive in the conformation of Brazilian society in its social, economic, political, and cultural aspects.
Epistemological and historical aspects of the anti-racist fight in Brazilian education
Considering that the coloniality of power is impregnated in Brazilian schools and universities, institutionally reproducing racism, the aim of this article is to analyze the historical-normative process of resistance of the black movement for the anti-racist struggle through the epistemological disputes and tensions existing in the elaboration and implementation of educational policies. With an emphasis on Law 10.639, which made it compulsory to teach Afro-Brazilian history and culture in schools, it was possible to see that the law in question is an important milestone, but it is still far from achieving the reach and effectiveness needed to identify and make progress that, beyond hegemonic Western epistemologies in the field of education, makes it possible to confront and overcome racism and promote human rights.
Contributos foucaultianos sobre racismo: aproximações entre soldados Indígenas estadunidenses e brasileiros
Este artigo tem como objetivo empreender um esforço reflexivo acerca da participação de indígenas nas Forças Armadas (FA) estadunidense e brasileira, na qualidade de profissional militar, a partir da perceptiva foucaultiana sobre o racismo. Trata-se de pesquisa qualitativa, com base em análise bibliográfica e documental, além de coleta de dados e informações em sites (YouTube) e vídeos institucionais, com o termo indutor soldados Indígenas. Como resultado destacou-se o racismo biológico, seja na expectativa do estereótipo de guerreiros naturais ou na ideia do compartilhamento de saberes do efetivo indígena, reduzido a perspectiva da troca de conhecimento, estabelecendo uma maior distinção de classes, caracterizada pela diferença de patentes e valores recebidos pelo ofício.
Professional ethics and the labyrinth of precarisation: challenges and resistance in the work of Social Workers
This article analyses the professional ethics of social workers in the context of labour precarisation based on bibliographic and empirical research conducted with 168 professionals in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The findings reveal a resurgence of conservatism in everyday professional practice, shaped by processes of alienation, sickness, and intensified exploitation. Against this background, the study identifies ethical-political strategies as both individual and collective forms of resistance. It highlights the paradox between the formal adherence to the ethical-political project and the persistence of conservative personal values. The study concludes by emphasising the need to overcome alienation and to strengthen professional ethics as a critical mediation between objective conditions and professional action, reaffirming its historical, collective, and emancipatory character.
Bolsonarismo: da guerra cultural ao terrorismo doméstico: retórica do ódio e dissonância cognitiva coletiva
Resenha do livro Bolsonarismo: da guerra cultural ao terrorismo doméstico: retórica do ódio e dissonância cognitiva coletiva, publicado pela editora Autêntica, em 2023, com 167p, autoria de João Cezar de Castro Rocha.
Direitos humanos e dependência no período Pós-Independência em Moçambique
This study analyses the determining correlations of Human Rights in the context of peripheral countries, with a particular focus on Mozambique’s dependency on core economies in the post-independence period (1975–present). It aims to describe the dialectic of human rights development in peripheral countries based on World-Systems Theory and to analytically delineate the “human rights issue” in Mozambique in the post-independence period. Methodologically, this is a qualitative study with a descriptive objective, carried out through bibliographic and documentary reviews. The study found that although Mozambique has legislation addressing human rights issues, civil war, poverty, and economic dependency have eroded human rights. There has been a resurgence of hun@ger hotspots, precarious primary healthcare and education, and a lack of freedom of expression and assembly.
Copyright (c) 2024 Argumentum http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Crise capitalista, degradação ambiental e lutas dos povos originários na América Latina
Editorial do v. 16, n. 3 de 2024, tema Crise capitalista, degradação ambiental e lutas dos povos originários na América Latina.
The gold rush in the Yanomami Indigenous Land: mining and the Haximu genocide
This study investigates the gold rush in the Yanomami Indigenous Land between 1987 and 1993. It examines the events, causes, developments, and implications of what should be considered one of the worst chapters in the history of relationships between indigenous communities and the impacts of mineral exploration on indigenous land. It highlights that one of the darkest results of the process of the invasion of Yanomami territory manifested itself in the Haximu genocide in 1993. The study sheds light on the understanding of the recurring processes of violence suffered by the Yanomami, which are still little known by the general population.
Towards the creation of the neo-corporate military state in Mexico
This paper analyses the recent reconfiguration of state power in Mexico from the perspective of political economy. It argues that during the most recent presidential term under López Obrador (2018-2024), the foundations of a new state model were been laid. In an effort to address the legitimacy crisis experienced under previous administrations, this model retains neoliberal economic policies and the militarised and coercive character established through the so-called 'war on drugs.' It, however, promotes a social policy based on monetary assistance programmes, which have become the foundation of a politically subordinated social consensus that underpins a new military-neocorporate state.
Child and adolescent rights at the interface with racism
This article addresses racism, children's rights and the system that guarantees the rights of children and adolescents. It reflects on the possibilities of resistance in the face of a protective system that developed in a context of racist sociability. The methodology was a bibliographic review of primary and secondary sources, and observation of the implementation of a university extension course aimed at professionals who work with children and adolescents. It became evident that racism is latent in childhood and is little debated. Teaching emerged as the best strategy for breaking with racism in childhood.
System for Guaranteeing the Rights of Children and Adolescents
This article problematises the relationship between Brazilian Social Work and the national policy for preventing and combating torture. With an emphasis on the deprivation of liberty, it discusses historical and political aspects of torture in Brazil and its confrontation by means of professional action. This is qualitative research drawn from bibliographical study and documentary analysis of reports produced by the first team responsible for the national policy for the prevention and combating of torture. It concludes that academic output on the topic of torture in Social Work is scarce. Political and professional intervention strategies for the category are also highlighted.
PEC das domésticas 10 anos depois (2013-2023)
Em 2013 entrou em vigor o Projeto de Emenda Constitucional 72/2013, conhecido como “PEC das Domésticas”, cujo objetivo foi estender às trabalhadoras domésticas uma série de direitos trabalhistas válidos para as/os demais trabalhadoras/es brasileiros desde 1988. A expectativa era a de que haveria um ciclo de crescimento da formalização do trabalho no setor e uma melhoria generalizada da qualidade do emprego doméstico, o que entretanto não se concretizou. Os dados empíricos encontrados indicam que a taxa de informalidade cresceu, houve um aumento expressivo das trabalhadoras sem carteira de trabalho assinada e sem proteção previdenciária, além de se constatar a estagnação dos rendimentos da categoria e a ampliação das desigualdades raciais. Examinamos três hipóteses para tentar explicar esse quadro, nomeadamente as recentes crises econômicas, as mudanças demográficas e finalmente a sobrecarga das unidades familiares com os custos da formalização.
Nature in György Lukács and Alfred Schmidt: Marxist reflections on the beginning of the Anthropocene
This paper critically contrasts György Lukács’ and Alfred Schmidt’s 1960s interpretations of Marxist reflections on nature. It argues that Schmidt’s position on nature produces a literal constructivism that Lukács’ ontological perspective avoids. It also argues that Lukács generalises Marx’s theory of value in a way that hinders the historical analyses of different social metabolisms, in contrast to Schmidt's more historicised interpretation of value, which draws out important considerations regarding capitalism’s relationship with nature. It further argues that both positions, in analysing the Marxist perspective of an emancipated society, not only depart from Marx’s positions but also fall into what environmental sociology has termed exemptionalism. Finally, it demonstrates how the theorising of István Mészáros and the so-called Metabolic Rift School skilfully reframe the positive aspects and limitations of Schmidt and Lukács’ interpretations.
The “possible futures” that force us to move
Iniciamos essa reflexão em meio à catástrofe socioambiental que assola o estado do Rio Grande do Sul, por meio de uma enchente sem precedentes que atinge uma grande extensão territorial do estado e 90% do total de municípios, em zonas costeiras e zonas interioranas, desde áreas da planície costeira que margeiam a Lagoa dos Patos até áreas da Serra Gaúcha; áreas urbanas e áreas rurais; bairros centrais e periféricos; comunidades campesinas, pesqueiras, marisqueiras, ribeirinhas e quilombolas, territórios de povos originários indígenas.
Nature, technology, and the breakdown of the capitalist order
Métodos reducionistas de observação da realidade, assim como ocorre em outros temas das ciências sociais, são recorrentes para a discussão sobre a crise climática. E, por isso, o esforço de debate também já vem sendo acumulado pelo mainstream. Em seu texto, o professor Eduardo Sá Barreto se preocupou em citar e analisar os limites das proposições nos termos da ordem liberal, previstas no princípio do poluidor pagador, da análise do custo-benefício e do cálculo de valoração econômica para serviços ambientais. Também fez alusão a formas contemporâneas de vinculação destes princípios. É notável a introdução de novas modalidades de contrato para incentivar a produção sustentável e o conservacionismo florestal, sempre por medidas que envolvem práticas padronizadas de manejo e uso de recursos naturais para a produção, em estratégias de marketing e operações em mercados futuros, como são os casos dos certificados de origem – terroir, na sua expressão francesa – os mercados de carbono e as estratégias ESG – do inglês Environmental, Social and Governance.
Catastrophe, capitalism, and a lurking fatalism
O artigo aborda o entrelaçamento do colapso climático e da crise estrutural do capitalismo com a incapacidade, também estrutural, de oferecer respostas efetivas aos riscos e impactos daí oriundos. Com a finalidade de demonstrar as limitações insanáveis das alternativas em circulação, mesmo das que propõem reformas mais ambiciosas, procura-se examinar as condições objetivas de (im)possibilidade de sua realização. A principal conclusão é que a necessária rejeição ao fatalismo que tende a aparecer em circunstâncias tão desafiadoras não precisa e não deve recorrer à diluição do diagnóstico de extrema gravidade que será apresentado aqui.
Conflicts and expropriation of traditional territories in the Brazilian Amazon
This article analyses the conflicts and expropriation processes in the Amazon region. It highlights the resistance strategies implemented by local peoples to counter the appropriation and dispossession of their assets and way of life. The methodology employed was a systematic literature review, and a review of audiovisual materials that presented reports from leaders of social movements and traditional communities, these were identified and classified as: strengthening of identity; mobilisations, political organisation/links; and; use of counter-information. The use of counter-information, which emerged as an identified process of r-existence, was ultimately the basis for the analysis, which reflects on the conflicts and the processes of expropriation experienced in the Amazon region.