Pobreza na Região Metropolitana de Belém sob os enfoques teóricos das capacidades e do espaço social

Abstract

The general objective of this study is to study the relationships between poverty and social structure from monetary and multidimensional perspectives for the Metropolitan Region of Belém in the period 2000 to 2010. The main data sources used were microdata from the 2000 and 2010 Demographic Censuses. In the multidimensional analysis, the multidimensional poverty indexes (MPI) were constructed based on the Alkire-Foster method (2007, 2009). The typology developed by the Observatory of Metropolises, which adopts the Bourdieusian perspective, was used to analyze the social structure. In the first decade of the 21st century, there was a significant reduction in the proportion of poor people in the RMB from an income perspective. This trend was observed both for the RMB as a whole and for all metropolitan municipalities. The decline in monetary poverty indicators in the RMB followed the national trend that occurred in the 2000s as a consequence of economic conditions and public policies. By adopting multidimensionality in poverty analysis, it is possible to perceive the heterogeneity that exists in the areas studied, as advocated by Amartya Sen. Comparing the indicators of the two approaches, the results point to higher levels of poverty captured by the multidimensional perspective, when compared to the monetary perspective. This situation occurs for all levels of aggregation: regional, municipal and weighted area. The results of multidimensional poverty indicate that there was a small increase in the proportion of poor people in the RMB as a whole. The levels of multidimensional poverty presented were very high in comparison with the national averages in the period 2000/2010. The public policies that contributed to removing the condition of multidimensional poverty from a significant portion of the national population do not seem to have presented the same results for the RMB. Regarding the social structure of the RMB, it is clear that there is a progressive increase in the population classified as deprived as one advances in the social structure when considering the various indicators that make up the MPI (incidence, intensity and MPI). The population at the top of the social pyramid considered poor is significantly smaller than that at the base. As in the analysis of regional and municipal aggregates, the dimensions that acted to intensify the deprivations of the population residing in the RMB were education and standard of living.