Reproduction of Inequalities in the Implementation of Social Policies
The main goal is to identify and take inventory of the different mechanisms through which the day-to-day operations of government and the encounters between service workers and users may engender risks of inequality reproduction. Implementation processes take place in the hidden recesses of routine or in the obscure actions and inactions of public agents. Beyond contributing to the execution of the desired effects of social policies, we argue that policy implementation processes also produce other non-intended effects on service users and targeted populations. These effects may contribute to the persistence of social inequalities by producing the accumulation of material and symbolic disadvantages on social groups who traditionally experience forms of vulnerability. The empirical analysis draws from the systematic comparison of 23 concrete cases of social policy implementation in Brazil and Mexico. By looking across the cases, we identified an array of mechanisms linking implementation dynamics to the material and symbolic effects reinforcing already existing inequalities. Recognizing these mechanisms is an important step towards making social policies and services more effective in the pursuit of sustainable development goals.
Reading Development 