Zero Hunger

When Luiz Incio Lula da Silva of Brazils Workers' Party soared to power in 2003, he promised to end hunger in the nation. In a vivid ethnography with an innovative approach to Brazilian politics, Aaron Ansell assesses President Lulas flagship antipoverty program, Zero Hunger (Fome Zero), focusing on its rollout among agricultural workers in the poor northeastern state of Piau. Linking the administrations fight against poverty to a more subtle effort to change the regions political culture, Ansell rethinks the nature of patronage and provides a novel perspective on the state under Workers' Party rule.Aiming to strengthen democratic processes, frontline officials attempted to dismantle the long-standing patron-client relationships Ansell identifies them as intimate hierarchies that bound poor people to local elites. Illuminating the symbolic techniques by which officials attempted to influence Zero Hunger beneficiaries' attitudes toward power, class, history, and ethnic identity, Ansell shows how the assault on patronage increased political awareness but also confused and alienated the programs participants. He suggests that, instead of condemning patronage, policymakers should harness the emotional energy of intimate hierarchies to better facilitate the participation of all citizens in political and economic development.