CONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFER PROGRAMS: CONTRADICTIONS AND LIMITS OF NON-CONTRIBUTORY SOCIAL PROTECTION IN BRAZIL

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Published: 2026-05-20
Keywords:
Non-Contributory Social Protection, Neoliberalism, Conditional Cash Transfer Programs

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Rosilaine Coradini Guilherme
Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8705-8667
Eduardo Cechin da Silva
Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA)
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-5906-8241
Ana Vitoria Paiva Emidio
Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA)
https://orcid.org/0009-0007-0410-1481
Lais Fernandes Batista de Souza
Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA)
https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4007-1469

Abstract

This article aims to examine the contradictions inherent in the design of conditional cash transfer programs and how these affect the scope of non-contributory social protection in addressing social inequalities within the Brazilian context. It is an exploratory qualitative study grounded in the historical-dialectical materialist method, drawing on bibliographic sources. To address these issues, the study begins by advocating for social protection grounded in human emancipation, which entails challenging the selective and narrow perspective of social protection policies implemented under the logic of bourgeois sociability. In summary, guided by critical social theory, it was possible to reveal the contradictions of conditional cash transfer programs, highlighting the fact that their creation coincided with the adoption of neoliberal doctrine. Based on this, the limits of non-contributory social protection were identified, which lie in the residual nature of the welfare state, which is restricted to an intervention oriented toward poverty management, obscuring the origins of social inequalities and, consequently, hindering efforts to address them.

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Article Details

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 2 (2026): Brazilian Journal of Research in Applied Social Sciences

Section

Dossiê
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Author Biographies

Rosilaine Coradini Guilherme, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)

Ph.D. in Social Work (PUCRS), Master degree in Social Policy (UCPel), Bachelor degree in Social Work (UFN). Since 2026, she has been a professor at the Institute of Psychology, Social Work, and Human Communication at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), teaching in the Bachelor’s Program in Social Work and the Graduate Program in Social Policy and Social Work (PPGPSSS/UFRGS). She also serves as an adjunct professor in the Graduate Program in Social Work and Social Protection at the Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA). She was a professor at UNIPAMPA (2016–2026). Areas of interest: Social Protection, Social Policies, Social Security, Poverty and Conditional Cash Transfer Programs, the Unified Social Assistance System, Labor, and Social Issues.

Eduardo Cechin da Silva, Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA)

Master’s student in Social Work and Social Protection at the Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA). Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from UNIPAMPA (2025). CNPq Master’s Scholarship Recipient, CNPq Call No. 12/2025. He was a PROBIC/FAPERGS fellow on the research project “Non-Contributory Social Protection in Latin America and the Caribbean: conditional cash transfer programs, labor inclusion programs, and social minimums for the elderly and people with disabilities.” Member of the Research Group on Social Policies, Social Issues, and Relations of Exploitation/Oppression (GPEXO). Areas of interest: Social Work, Violence, Education, and Social Policies.

Ana Vitoria Paiva Emidio, Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA)

Undergraduate student in Social Work and Social Protection at the Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA). Scholarship recipient in the Inclusion and Human Rights program at UNIPAMPA, supporting motherhood through the extension project “UniPampinho – Acolher em Rede.” She was a PDA/UNIPAMPA fellow for the research project “Non-Contributory Social Protection in Latin America and the Caribbean: conditional cash transfer programs, labor inclusion programs, and social minimums for the elderly and people with disabilities.”

Lais Fernandes Batista de Souza, Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA)

Undergraduate student in Social Work at the Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA). She was a CNPq/Af fellow for the research project “Non-Contributory Social Protection in Latin America and the Caribbean: conditional cash transfer programs, labor inclusion programs, and social minimums for the elderly and people with disabilities.”

How to Cite

CORADINI GUILHERME, Rosilaine; CECHIN DA SILVA, Eduardo; PAIVA EMIDIO, Ana Vitoria; BATISTA DE SOUZA, Lais Fernandes. CONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFER PROGRAMS: CONTRADICTIONS AND LIMITS OF NON-CONTRIBUTORY SOCIAL PROTECTION IN BRAZIL. Brazilian Journal of Research in Applied Social Sciences, [S. l.], v. 5, n. 2, p. 01–15, 2026. Disponível em: https://periodicos.unipampa.edu.br/index.php/BJRASS/article/view/122270. Acesso em: 22 may. 2026.

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