“Urban Housing Provision in Peripheral Capitalism: The Future of the Past in Brazil”

Housing provision has been widely studied in Brazil since the mid-20th century. These studies have been part of a specific field as well as a more general discussion on urbanization and development on the periphery of capitalism, in a country that was able to industrialize without achieving international autonomy. This research contributes to this discussion by demonstrating the broad universe of house production and circulation that is still little understood by studies on Brazilian housing, as well as the relevance of this universe for enriching an analytical model on housing provision. In order to do this, I evaluate interpretations of housing in Brazil in consonance with the structure of housing finance, to verify that the sources of housing funding shed light on processes and markets that have not been explored much in national literature. The analysis of fiscal resources, through public spending on housing and urban services and infrastructures, support a better understanding of housing and cities in contemporary Brazil. This effort is also relevant because, by analyzing specific forms of housing provision through the production of space, one can explore particularities about the way in which housing is produced and circulated, thus supporting a broader understanding of the functioning of capitalism and some specific modes of capitalist accumulation. Current specific forms of housing provision can be seen in relation to the socio-spatial product of a Brazilian past, which is last century’s industrialization.