Intersections or Parallel Paths? An Analysis of Youth and Racial Equality Policies in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil (2006–2022)

Abstract

Mainstreaming, intersectorality, and intersectionality are approaches that have gained increasing prominence in both public policy research and policy practice. Nevertheless, further efforts are required to systematically develop these approaches, thereby strengthening both theoretical and practical contributions. In this context, this article researches the design and trajectory of racial equality and youth policies in the state of Rio Grande do Norte (RN), Brazil, between 2006 and 2022, in light of the broader national context. To this end, the study draws upon the concepts of intersectorality, mainstreaming, and intersectionality as the analytical framework for a qualitative analysis of official documents (e.g., legal and regulatory acts, Multiannual Plans [PPAs], and related policy instruments), complemented by four semi-structured interviews. Throughout the trajectory examined, intersectoral and mainstreaming approaches were present in both youth and racial equality policies in Rio Grande do Norte, albeit with distinct emphases and conceptualizations that varied according to the prevailing political context. However, this study identified only “traces” of intersectionality, leading to the conclusion that racial equality and youth policies in the state were largely developed along parallel paths that intersected only sporadically. Drawing on an empirical analysis of a subnational experience, this study contributes to the theoretical refinement of the concepts of intersectionality, mainstreaming, and intersectorality by examining their interrelationships. Furthermore, the findings offer insights into practices and strategies that may enhance the sustainability of youth and racial equality policies in adverse political contexts marked by risks of policy dismantling.

Keywords
race and youth mainstreaming; intersectorality; intersectionality; public policy; Black youth

Resumo

Transversalidade, intersetorialidade e interseccionalidade são abordagens que vêm ganhando relevância nos estudos e nas experiências de políticas públicas. Contudo, ainda são necessários esforços para o desenvolvimento sistemático das três abordagens, subsidiando teorias e práticas. Neste contexto, o propósito deste artigo é investigar o desenho e a trajetória das políticas de igualdade racial e de juventude (2006 - 2022) no Rio Grande do Norte (RN), em face do contexto nacional. Para isso, mobilizamos as abordagens da intersetorialidade, transversalidade e interseccionalidade, que ancoram uma análise qualitativa de documentos oficiais (ex.: atos normativos, Planos Plurianuais [PPAs] etc.), complementada por quatro entrevistas. Ao longo da trajetória, as abordagens intersetoriais e transversais estiveram presente nas políticas de juventude e igualdade racial no RN, ainda que com ênfases e concepções distintas, variando conforme a conjuntura política. Entretanto, apenas evidenciamos “traços” de interseccionalidade, o que nos permite concluir que as políticas de igualdade racial e de juventude seguiram, no RN, por vias paralelas que se tocaram apenas pontualmente. O trabalho contribui para, a partir da análise empírica de experiência subnacional, adensar teoricamente as categorias da interseccionalidade, transversalidade e intersetorialidade, considerando suas articulações. Além disso, seus resultados permitem refletir sobre práticas e estratégias para garantir sustentabilidade de políticas como as de juventude e igualdade racial em contextos adversos, com risco de desmonte.

Palavras-chave
transversalidade de raça e juventude; intersetorialidade; interseccionalidade; política pública; juventude negra

Introduction

The 1988 Federal Constitution established a national project grounded in the principles of freedom, justice, and solidarity. However, persistent inequalities continue to challenge the realization of this constitutional promise in Brazil.

One of the most visible manifestations of inequality in the country concerns race relations (Carneiro, 2003; Munanga, 2004; Nascimento, 2016). In Brazil, violence disproportionately affects Black, male, and young individuals living in urban peripheries, particularly in the context of police lethality. For this reason, Black social movements have characterized this phenomenon as the genocide of Black youth (Gomes & Alves, 2017). According to the Brazilian Public Security Forum (FBSP), in 2023, 82.7% of victims of police killings were Black, 99.3% were male, and 71.7% were adolescents and young people aged between 12 and 29 years. Race therefore plays a defining role in shaping how young people (aged 15 to 29) experience Brazilian society. There is thus a profound interconnection between the inequalities affecting Black and young populations in the country.

Public problems such as racial inequality and youth-related issues are inherently complex and require innovative and integrated public policy responses (Rittel & Webber, 1973). From this perspective, several analytical and policy-oriented approaches have emerged within the field of public policy studies and practice, including intersectionality, mainstreaming, and intersectorality. Despite significant advances in the development of these approaches over recent years, further efforts are needed to deepen their conceptual foundations and enhance their application as policy strategies, particularly through empirical research.

Racial equality and youth policies may benefit from these three approaches both as analytical lenses and as principles for policy design. Conversely, examining these policy fields may contribute to the further development of the approaches themselves. Two guiding questions emerge from this proposition: Are racial equality and youth policies designed through the lenses of intersectionality, mainstreaming, and intersectorality? What can be learned about these approaches through an examination of the trajectories of these two policy domains?

Against this backdrop, this article analyses the design and trajectory of racial equality and youth policies in the state of Rio Grande do Norte (RN), Brazil, from 2006 to 2022, drawing on the concepts of intersectorality, mainstreaming, and intersectionality, and situating the analysis within the broader national context.

The article is structured into six sections, including this introduction. The second section discusses the concepts of intersectionality, mainstreaming, and intersectorality in relation to youth and racial equality policies. The third section presents the methodological approach adopted in the study. The fourth section describes and analyses the empirical evidence concerning racial equality and youth policies in Rio Grande do Norte between 2006 and 2022, considering their relationship with national developments. Finally, the concluding section discusses the main findings, provides a synthesis of the policy trajectories examined, and reflects on the study’s limitations and potential contributions.

Intersectionality, mainstreaming, and intersectorality in the design of youth and racial equality policies

The understanding of social problems as complex—or wicked problems (Rittel & Webber, 1973)—calls upon both public policy theory and practice to adopt innovative approaches that emphasize the multidimensional and multicausal nature of social issues, as well as the need for comprehensive responses. Among such approaches are intersectorality, mainstreaming, and intersectionality.

Mainstreaming and intersectorality are more firmly established within the field of public policy, both as analytical concepts and as strategies for policy design, coordination, and management (Costa & Bronzo, 2012; Papa, 2012; Marcondes, Sandim, & Diniz, 2018). Intersectionality, by contrast, originated in Black and non-white feminist thought (Crenshaw, 2002; Gonzalez, 1981; Hirata, 2014; Teixeira, 2020) and has only more recently been incorporated into public policy debates. Its potential, however, is considerable, particularly in advancing discussions on the complexity of social inequalities, thereby bringing it closer to the concerns addressed by mainstreaming and intersectorality. Despite their shared points of convergence, these three approaches may assume different meanings and are often used interchangeably. It is therefore necessary to clarify the definitions adopted in this study and, in doing so, contribute to their further theoretical refinement.

By mainstreaming, this study refers to the process of reorienting public policies through the incorporation of new perspectives (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity, and others), thereby committing policy action to equality and to the inclusion of historically marginalized groups and issues (e.g., women, Black populations, environmental concerns, among others). Mainstreaming also entails recognizing the voices and political agendas of social actors and social movements throughout the policy process (Marcondes & Farah, 2020; Papa, 2012). Intersectorality, in turn, is understood as the articulation of governmental sectors (e.g., education, health, social assistance, and others) in order to address complex problems through integrated and comprehensive action (Canato & Bichir, 2021; Costa & Bronzo, 2012; Cunill-Grau, 2014).

Although related, the two approaches are conceptually distinct. Mainstreaming largely presupposes intersectorality, insofar as it involves incorporating a new perspective across a broad set of interconnected policies (Marcondes & Farah, 2020; Papa, 2012). Intersectorality, however, may exist without mainstreaming. The integration of governmental sectors does not necessarily entail a reorientation of policy perspectives concerning gender, race, or other dimensions of inequality.

Intersectionality both complements and differs from these approaches. It highlights the need to understand the social relations that produce inequalities — such as gender, race, class, and life-cycle position — as mutually constitutive and inseparable (Crenshaw, 2002; Gonzalez, 1981; Hirata, 2014; Teixeira, 2020). While the strands that compose intersectional relations may possess a degree of analytical autonomy, they cannot be meaningfully disentangled. A Black woman from an urban periphery, for example, is not more a woman than she is Black or peripheral. Applied to public policy, intersectionality requires broad coalitions of actors, perspectives, and sectors, combining critical theory with transformative practice. It is therefore a more demanding and potentially transformative approach than mainstreaming and intersectorality, functioning primarily as a guiding principle for action that may be operationalized through the latter approaches.

Intersectionality, mainstreaming, and intersectorality have been mobilized to inform both the analysis and implementation of a wide range of public policies and social issues. This article focuses specifically on youth and racial equality policies.

In Brazil, youth is legally defined as the population aged between 15 and 29 years. Behind this seemingly straightforward definition lies a plurality of experiences of being young, as well as a broad range of challenges spanning different dimensions of social life (Ribeiro & Macedo, 2018). Youth is a historically constructed and continually evolving social category, shaped in large part by the agency of youth and student movements (Silva & Silva, 2011; Souza & Paiva, 2012). An additional challenge lies in recognizing young people as rights-bearing subjects in the present, rather than as individuals merely “in the process of becoming” adults (Abramo, 1997; Souza & Paiva, 2012). Consequently, youth policies must move beyond a purely age-based or generational perspective to embrace the diversity of youth experiences, among which race constitutes a central dimension.

The recognition of racism as a public problem has itself been the subject of political and academic dispute (Jaccoud, 2009; Nascimento, 2016; Theodoro, Jaccoud, Osório, & Soares, 2008). Resistance to acknowledging the existence of racism — and racists — results from the combination of enduring and contemporary narratives, including scientific racism, the myth of racial democracy, nation-building projects based on whitening through immigration and racial mixing, and the persistence of privileges associated with whiteness, sustained through what Bento (2002) describes as a narcissistic pact of whiteness.

Youth and racial equality policies share several common features. Among them is the possibility of drawing upon intersectionality, mainstreaming, and intersectorality as guiding concepts for both policy analysis and policy practice. These approaches may shape all stages of the policy process. In this article, however, the focus is placed specifically on policy design (Lima, Aguiar, & Lui, 2021; Peters & Falk, 2018).

Policy design analysis contributes to renewing debates on policy formulation, particularly by addressing complex policy problems (Lima et al., 2021). Such analyses focus on policy content, including the construction of public problems, their causes and supporting evidence, the definition of target populations, constitutive elements (goals, objectives, actions, and indicators), policy instruments (legal frameworks, budgetary and human resources), contextual factors (organizational culture and socioeconomic conditions), and governance arrangements (allocation of responsibilities, management structures and mechanisms, intergovernmental coordination, and social participation).

It is upon this theoretical framework that the present study is based.

Methodological approach

Research design

This study adopts a qualitative research design (Schreier, 2012) and is both exploratory and descriptive in nature. It draws upon documentary analysis, complemented by semi-structured interviews (Sampieri, Collado, & Lucio, 2006), and is informed by the principles of content analysis (Bardin, 2016; Krippendorff, 2004).

The empirical focus is the state of Rio Grande do Norte (RN), Brazil, as the research was conducted within this context and aims to contribute to the systematization of knowledge regarding policy experiences developed in the state. Rio Grande do Norte is located in Brazil’s Northeast region, a region deeply marked by social and territorial inequalities, but also recognized as a laboratory for innovative policy responses to such challenges. The state is characterized by a predominantly Black population, with 54.2% of residents identifying as mixed-race (pardo) and 8.5% as Black (preto) (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics [IBGE], 2022).

It is also worth noting that public policy studies in Brazil have traditionally privileged the national level of analysis, rendering state governments the “missing link” in the federal chain (Souza, 2023). This article is based on the premise that valuable lessons and promising practices can stem from state-level experiences.

The temporal scope of the research has its starting point in 2006, the year in which the first youth policy agency was established in Rio Grande do Norte: the State Undersecretariat for Youth Affairs. In 2007, the state’s first racial equality policy body was created: the Coordination for Policies to Promote Racial Equality (Rio Grande do Norte, 2007). The analysis is concluded in 2022, allowing the study to focus exclusively on state administrations that completed their respective governing cycles.

The adoption of a longitudinal perspective enables the incorporation of relevant variation over time, particularly given the level of political and ideological contestation associated with the policy fields under study. Policies related to gender, race, youth, and similar issues are closely connected to social movements which, in the Brazilian context, have historically maintained stronger ties with the political left wing. This perspective allows analysing policy trajectories while maintaining focus on their broader political and institutional contexts.

During the period under study, Rio Grande do Norte experienced administrations with distinct ideological orientations: 1) Wilma de Faria (2003–2010), affiliated with the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), a centre-left party, whose administration coincided with the federal governments of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers’ Party (PT), with whom she maintained political alignment; 2) Rosalba Ciarlini (2011–2014), affiliated with the Democrats (DEM), a right-wing party, whose administration overlapped with the presidency of Dilma Rousseff (PT), to which she was politically opposed; 3) Robinson Faria (2015–2018), affiliated with the Social Democratic Party (PSD), who was elected through a broad coalition that initially included left-wing parties but later broke the alignment with them. His administration coincided with Dilma Rousseff’s second term, the subsequent impeachment process, and the presidency of her vice president, Michel Temer, commonly associated with the centre-right; 4) Fátima Bezerra (2019–2022), affiliated with the Workers’ Party (PT), a left-wing party, whose administration coincided with the far-right federal government of Jair Bolsonaro, to which she maintained a position of political opposition.

These ideological differences, considered in conjunction with the national political context, provide important analytical leverage. Public policy (policy) must be understood as inseparable from political processes (politics) and institutional arrangements (polity) (Frey, 2000), with intergovernmental coordination constituting a central dimension of the latter.

Data collection, analysis, and interpretation

This study focuses on policy design, that is, on formally established policy arrangements rather than on their implementation. Accordingly, a documentary analysis of official records was conducted, including legal and regulatory acts as well as planning instruments, particularly the five Multiannual Plans (PPAs) of Rio Grande do Norte that were in force during the period under study. These documents were selected as they represent the visible substance of public policy (Muller & Surel, 2004), namely the observable elements that constitute policy design (Lima et al., 2021). They provide evidence of both state capacity-building efforts and the formulation of programmes and projects through which public policies are translated into action.

The limited public availability of official documents in Rio Grande do Norte posed a challenge to the research process. To address this limitation, the study also conducted interviews in order to triangulate and complement the documentary evidence. Interview participants were selected based on the positions they held, or were currently holding, —within the political field of youth and racial equality policies, as well as their influence on the development and implementation of these policy areas.

Priority was placed on individuals who had held or were holding positions in the government directly related to the policies under analysis. Simultaneously, the study aimed to incorporate the perspectives of social movements involved in these policy fields. Table 1 presents the four interview participants and summarizes their profiles.

Table 1
: Interview participants: identification and profile description

Identification	Profile description
Maria*	Black cisgender woman. Legislator who previously served as a youth policy manager and is actively involved in women’s, youth, and Black social movements.
Joana*	Black cisgender woman. Public manager associated with racial equality policy in Rio Grande do Norte.
João*	White cisgender man. Public manager associated with youth policy in Rio Grande do Norte.
Marília*	Black cisgender woman. Activist involved in youth social movements in Rio Grande do Norte.

• Source: Prepared by the authors.
• (*) Fictitious names.
• Note: The interviews were conducted between 2021 and 2022 and lasted approximately 50 minutes on average. All interviews were audio-recorded with prior consent, transcribed, and documented. Participants formally authorized the use of the material for research purposes, and the terms of identification were negotiated and agreed upon in advance.

The analysis and interpretation of the data were guided by what is hereby termed as a Guiding Questions Matrix (Table 2). This analytical instrument was developed based on key dimensions identified in the literature on youth and racial equality policies, particularly those related to the analytical categories discussed in the theoretical framework. These dimensions were further refined through a preliminary reading of the corpus conducted during the pre-analysis stage (Bardin, 2016). In summary, the questions comprising the Matrix focus, firstly, on aspects related to state capacity-building and governance arrangements, encompassing both administrative structures (e.g., policy agencies, plans, and institutional frameworks) and mechanisms of social participation (e.g., public policy councils). The Matrix also aims to identify points of articulation, convergence, and divergence between the two policy areas under examination, considering the broader political context in which they evolved. Finally, the analytical framework was designed to assess whether the two policy trajectories explicitly or implicitly mobilized the approaches examined in this article, namely intersectionality, intersectorality, and mainstreaming, and, where applicable, to identify the meanings and interpretations attributed to these concepts.

Table 2
: Data analysis and interpretation instrument: guiding questions matrix

Analysis of youth and racial equality policies in Rio Grande do Norte
What governance arrangements were developed during the period under analysis? When was the policy agency established? What was its institutional status (e.g., secretariat, coordination office, department)? Were there any changes over time? If so, what were they?
Was a state policy plan developed? If so, when? Was it maintained over time? Within planning instruments, particularly the Multiannual Plans (PPAs), is it possible to identify priority themes and policy agendas?
Is there a public policy council associated with the policy area? If so, when was it created and what is its composition? Were there any changes over time? Were state conferences held? Do policy plans, or, where unavailable, the PPAs, make reference to these participatory processes? Were other initiatives aimed at democratizing governance arrangements implemented?
Do racial equality policies make reference to youth policies (and vice versa)? In what ways and with reference to which issues?
How do the two policy areas and their respective approaches relate to one another? Are there changes in this relationship over time?
Is it possible to identify differences across successive state administrations in Rio Grande do Norte? If so, what are they?
Intersectionality, mainstreaming, and intersectorality
Are these concepts explicitly used in policy documents? If so, in what sense? Are there concrete examples of their application?
Is it possible to identify these approaches implicitly within the policies? If so, how? In which cases and at what points in time do they emerge?

The Guiding Questions Matrix supported the stages of data exploration, decoding, and coding, with the aim of constructing an analytical narrative capable of addressing the questions that structured the research. Specifically, the instrument: (1) informed the definition of data inclusion and exclusion criteria; (2) established a basis for comparing different stages throughout the policy trajectory; (3) enabled the standardization of recording units and units of analysis (Bardin, 2016; Krippendorff, 2004); and (4) ensured consistency in the decoding and coding procedures conducted by the different researchers involved in the study (Schreier, 2012).

Based on the answers generated through the Matrix, the study developed a series of descriptive analytical blocks that structured the interpretation of the data. When combined, these blocks provided the foundation for reconstructing the trajectory of youth and racial equality policies in Rio Grande do Norte.

Policy trajectory analysis is a well-established methodological approach within public policy research, drawing on techniques rooted in historical institutionalism, such as process tracing (Mahoney, 2003), which was an important source of inspiration for this study. The analysis was further contextualized within the broader national political landscape, particularly considering the inductive effects of the federal government on subnational policymaking (Arretche, 2004). Such effects may be especially pronounced in policy areas that are still undergoing institutional consolidation, such as those examined in this article.

Youth and racial equality policies in Rio Grande do Norte: data analysis

The beginning of the policy trajectory

The administration of Wilma de Faria coincided with the federal government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003–2010), and the two governments maintained a close political alignment. This national context was particularly favourable to the institutional development of both youth and racial equality policies, as the Workers’ Party (PT) administrations represented a landmark in the systemic structuring of these policy fields. These initiatives responded to longstanding demands advanced by social movements and encouraged subnational governments to undertake similar efforts (Jaccoud, 2009; Perez & Luz, 2019; Ribeiro & Macedo, 2018).

In 2003, the Secretariat for Policies to Promote Racial Equality (SEPPIR) was established at the federal level with the mandate to coordinate, implement, and monitor racial equality policies across federal, state, and municipal governments. To support the implementation of SEPPIR’s agenda, a set of governance institutions was created, including the National Conferences on the Promotion of Racial Equality (CONAPIR), the National Plan for the Promotion of Racial Equality (PLANAPIR), the PLANAPIR Monitoring and Coordination Committee, and the National Council for the Promotion of Racial Equality (CNPIR) (Jaccoud, 2009).

CONAPIR and CNPIR played a particularly important role in ensuring social participation by Black, Indigenous, Quilombola, Roma, and Afro-Brazilian traditional religious communities in the formulation of the National Racial Equality Policy.

A significant milestone in the institutionalization of this policy field occurred in 2010 with the enactment of the Racial Equality Statute, which established the National System for the Promotion of Racial Equality (SINAPIR). The Statute stipulated that federal entities should implement policies aimed at strengthening Black youth and guaranteeing access to basic rights, including education, health care, and other social rights (Law No. 12,288/2010).

At the federal level, youth policy also underwent a significant transformation beginning in 2003. This process was marked by the creation of the Special Youth Commission within the National Congress, whose work ultimately contributed to the approval of the Youth Statute in 2013 (Perez & Luz, 2019; Ribeiro & Macedo, 2018). During the intervening decade, several key institutions and programmes were established, including the National Youth Council (CONJUVE), the National Youth Secretariat (SNJ), and the National Programme for Youth Inclusion (PROJOVEM) (Perez & Luz, 2019).

Another important milestone was the enactment of the so-called “Youth Constitutional Amendment”, as recalled by interviewee João, referring to Constitutional Amendment No. 65 (Brazil, 2010). Through this amendment, the 1988 Federal Constitution was revised to explicitly recognize and guarantee the rights of young people, providing constitutional support for the development of new legislation and public policies in the field. As a result, not only did the institutionalization of youth policy gain momentum, but its scope also expanded, involving a broader range of policy sectors and governmental actors (Rocha & Brasil, 2021).

In both the racial equality and youth policy fields, efforts were undertaken to establish more systematic institutional foundations, moving beyond isolated and fragmented initiatives. In both cases, an intersectoral approach was adopted, involving multiple governmental sectors, such as education, employment, and public security, primarily through policy plans, conferences, and statutory frameworks. Intersectorality was guided by a mainstreaming strategy, that is, by the incorporation of racial equality and youth perspectives across the broad range of actions comprising each policy domain.

Although no initiatives were explicitly designed on the basis of an intersectional framework, racial issues were present within youth policies, and vice versa. A particularly illustrative example emerged during the First National Conference on Youth Public Policies (CNPPJ), launched in 2008 (Rocha & Brasil, 2021). Among the 22 priority resolutions approved, the foremost recommendation called for the establishment of policies and rights specifically targeting Black youth (National Youth Secretariat [SNJ], 2008), reflecting the mobilization and advocacy efforts of Black youth movements.

It was within this context that youth and racial equality policies in Rio Grande do Norte gained greater institutional consolidation, particularly during Wilma de Faria’s second administration. An important milestone had already been established in the final year of her first term, in 2006, with the creation of the State Undersecretariat for Youth Affairs, linked to the State Secretariat for Justice and Citizenship (SEJUC). Its responsibilities included coordinating and evaluating state-level youth policy processes, as well as producing and disseminating knowledge on youth-related issues (Rio Grande do Norte, 2007). In 2008, Rio Grande do Norte hosted the state-level stage of the First National Youth Conference, during which matters related to race, class, and gender received particular attention.

It was also during Wilma de Faria’s second administration that racial equality policy gained a formal place within the state’s institutional structure through the establishment, in 2007, of the Coordination for Policies to Promote Racial Equality (COEPPIR), housed within SEJUC (Rio Grande do Norte, 2007). This occurred two years after the state-level stage of the First National Conference on the Promotion of Racial Equality (CNPIR), held in 2005 (Rio Grande do Norte, 2005). COEPPIR focused on ethnic-racial groups, with particular emphasis on the Black population. Furthermore, as highlighted by interviewee Joana, the State Council for Policies to Promote Racial Equality (CONSEPPIR) was created in 2009 (Rio Grande do Norte, 2009).

In both policy domains, significant similarities can be observed between federal and subnational intersectoral and mainstreaming designs, suggesting the existence of federal induction effects. Nevertheless, despite these institutional innovations, an examination of the state’s multiannual planning instruments reveals that initiatives related to youth and racial equality remained largely episodic during this period and were not yet fully aligned with intersectoral, mainstreaming, or intersectional perspectives (Rio Grande do Norte, 2004; State Complementary Law No. 340, 2007).

Indeed, in Rio Grande do Norte’s Multiannual Plan (PPA) for 2004–2007, youth-related issues were addressed within a programme dedicated to “Childhood and Youth Support”, whose target population consisted primarily of children and adolescents rather than young people more broadly (Rio Grande do Norte, 2004). Racial issues, in turn, appeared only through isolated and limited references (Rio Grande do Norte, 2004).

The 2008–2011 PPA, however, demonstrated important advances, likely resulting from the initial institutionalization of both policy areas within the state. Youth policy was incorporated into a dedicated programme entitled “Youth Promotion and Empowerment”, which received a total budget allocation of BRL 8.5 million, comprising BRL 6.3 million in state resources and BRL 2.2 million in federal funding (Rio Grande do Norte, 2008). This configuration illustrates the significance of federal inducement in supporting policy development at the state level.

A similar trajectory was observed in racial equality policy, which was incorporated into a specific programme entitled “Promotion of Racial Equality”, with a total allocation of BRL 790,000, of which BRL 400,000 originated from federal resources (Rio Grande do Norte, 2008). The programme focused primarily on conducting studies and research on racial issues and promoting awareness through the training of public servants. These resources were relatively limited and substantially lower than those allocated to the youth policy programme.

References to intersectorality and mainstreaming appeared explicitly in the 2008–2011 PPA within the youth policy framework, which included the objective of “operationalizing the Intersectoral Committee on Youth Policies” (Rio Grande do Norte, 2008, p. 97). Furthermore, the Plan stated that mainstreaming would be “[...] translated into the definition of policies and programmes involving different sectors of government and encompassing the multiple dimensions of the issues faced [...]” (Rio Grande do Norte, 2008, p. 6). In this context, mainstreaming and intersectorality were effectively treated as synonymous concepts.

A change in direction

In 2011, Rosalba Ciarlini (2011–2014), a governor aligned with the political right, was elected in Rio Grande do Norte, while the Workers’ Party (PT) remained in power at the federal level, resulting in an oppositional relationship between the two administrations. The Democrats (DEM), Rosalba Ciarlini’s party, had a history of contesting affirmative action policies and was responsible for filing a Constitutional Complaint for Non-Compliance with a Basic Precept (ADPF) challenging the adoption of racial quotas at the University of Brasília (UnB). In its ruling, the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF) upheld the constitutionality of affirmative action policies for access to higher education (Rocha, 2012).

The election of the governor therefore weakened the federal government’s capacity to induce policy development in the areas of racial equality and youth, despite the existence of SINAPIR and the enactment of the Youth Statute (Law No. 12,852/2013), which provided for the creation of the National Youth System (Sinajuve). The Statute established a comprehensive legal framework for youth policy, addressing youth-related matters through integrated, intersectoral, and mainstreaming approaches while recognizing the diversity of youth experiences, including racial, ethnic, and gender dimensions (Law No. 12,852/2013).

Within this context, one of the national priorities of youth policy became the prevention of violence against Black youth, a priority consistently advanced through the National Youth Conferences. As a result, the Plan for the Prevention of Violence Against Black Youth (Plano Juventude Viva) was launched in 2012. The initiative encompassed a set of intersectoral and intergovernmental actions designed to address violence, including measures aimed at combating racism within public institutions such as police forces (Brazil, 2014). In this regard, the programme represented a significant effort to incorporate an intersectional perspective linking racial inequality and youth issues.

Following the Supreme Federal Court’s favourable ruling on affirmative action, the Quota Law expanded access to Brazilian universities for Black and Indigenous youth, as well as young people with disabilities (Law No. 12,711/2012). This affirmative action policy constitutes one of the most significant examples of intersectionality between racial inequality and youth policy in Brazil.

At the state level, however, Rio Grande do Norte did not follow the trajectory observed nationally. As in the previous period, greater advances occurred in youth policy than in racial equality policy. Interviewee João noted that, just as social assistance secretariats are often entrusted to the spouses of mayors and governors, which is a phenomenon commonly referred to as first-ladyism, youth policy agencies frequently “end up in the hands of someone’s son.”. In the case of Rio Grande do Norte, for much of this period, youth policy was led by Rafael Motta, son of Ricardo Motta, who was then president of the State Legislative Assembly. Nevertheless, this arrangement did not result in policy interruption. As interviewee Marília emphasized, family and political connections enabled youth policy managers to secure institutional gains, while simultaneously projecting their own political careers.

Within this context, some relevant initiatives were undertaken to strengthen youth policy institutions, including the state-level stages of the Second National Youth Conference held in 2011 (Ribeiro & Macedo, 2018), which generated substantial mobilization in Rio Grande do Norte (Silva, 2015). It is worth noting, however, that state conferences are convened as part of a nationally coordinated process characterized by strong federal induction and do not necessarily reflect autonomous initiatives by state governments. Moreover, advances in the institutional strengthening of youth policy, or in the creation of new policy instruments, remained limited, suggesting that the conference left a limited lasting legacy for youth policy development within the state.

Policy discontinuity was even more pronounced in the field of racial equality, as evidenced by the analysis of Rio Grande do Norte’s 2012–2015 Multiannual Plan (PPA). The initiatives included in the Plan were limited in scope and unlikely to produce significant changes in the lives of young and Black populations. Most actions focused on activities such as training programmes and capacity-building initiatives, while being supported by modest financial resources, largely dependent on federal counterpart funding (Rio Grande do Norte, 2012).

Although youth movements in Rio Grande do Norte remained highly mobilized, the Rosalba Ciarlini administration did not adhere to the Juventude Viva (Living Youth) Plan (Silva, 2015), thereby reducing opportunities to advance intersectional approaches linking race and youth. Furthermore, neither mainstreaming nor intersectionality appeared explicitly in the state’s Multiannual Plan. Intersectorality was mentioned only in relation to food security policy (Rio Grande do Norte, 2012).

At this point in the policy trajectory, it is worth highlighting a phenomenon that has increasingly garnered attention in the literature under the concept of policy dismantling (Bezerra, Almeida, Lavalle, & Dowbor, 2024; Gomide, Silva, & Leopoldi, 2023). Broadly defined, policy dismantling refers to the reduction, elimination, or disarticulation of policy goals and instruments, as well as the erosion of state and administrative capacities (Gomide et al., 2023). Such processes do not necessarily involve formal repeal. Public policies may effectively “die from within” through their gradual disarticulation, including funding discontinuities, the demobilization of policy teams, and the weakening of institutional arrangements.

This is precisely the dynamic that becomes evident at this stage of the trajectory of racial equality policy in Rio Grande do Norte.

Deviations from the trajectory

Governor Robinson Faria’s administration (PSD) began in 2015 as a broad coalition that included left-wing parties, notably the Workers’ Party (PT) and the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB). Consequently, the state government was initially aligned with the federal administration, as President Dilma Rousseff had just been elected to her second term. However, in 2016, during the impeachment process, a political realignment occurred. The governor’s son, federal deputy Fábio Faria, voted in favour of President Rousseff’s removal from office. This episode led to a rupture between the state government and its left-wing coalition partners, repositioning the administration closer to the political right.

This political context affected youth and racial equality policies at both the national (Gomes, Silva, & Brito, 2021) and subnational levels. Consequently, this study’s analysis captures a policy framework that was designed under conditions relatively favourable to these policy areas during the early stages of the administration, whereas implementation unfolded in a substantially different political environment following the realignment.

As in previous periods, youth policies received greater priority than racial equality policies in Rio Grande do Norte. In 2015, the Extraordinary Secretariat for Youth Affairs was established, and its first secretary, Divaneide Basílio, was affiliated with the Workers’ Party and closely connected to youth movements at both the state and national levels. During this period, the Third State Youth Conference was also held (Ribeiro & Macedo, 2018), as part of the broader national conference process, which, as previously discussed, was strongly influenced by federal coordination and induction.

In 2016, the State Youth Council (CEJUV) was created (Complementary Law No. 574/2016). As interviewee Maria explained, the proposal for the council had long remained “on the back burner” before being “revived” to establish a space for dialogue and coordination between government and civil society, signalling a move towards more democratic governance arrangements. However, as noted by both Maria and João, the implementation of the Council was disrupted by the political changes described above.

Racial equality policies also experienced some advances in terms of policy design, although these remained relatively limited. In 2016, the responsibilities of the Coordination for Policies to Promote Racial Equality (COEPPIR) were expanded to encompass both racial equality promotion and the protection of the rights of traditional peoples and communities (Decree No. 26,502/2016). During the same year, the State Management Committee for Policies to Promote Racial Equality (COGPPIR) was established (Decree No. 26,501/2016). Composed of representatives from various government agencies, the Committee was designed to support COEPPIR in the development of public policies and to contribute to the implementation of the State System for the Promotion of Racial Equality. In 2017, the state government also convened the Fourth State Conference on the Promotion of Racial Equality.

These developments reveal efforts to create mechanisms for intersectoral coordination capable of mainstreaming racial and youth issues across public policies. Nevertheless, fostering intersectionality between the two policy domains was not a central priority. Illustratively, the Secretariat for Youth Affairs was not represented within COGPPIR.

The 2016–2019 Multiannual Plan (PPA) introduced the concept of “Cross-Cutting Agendas”, mirroring a similar initiative adopted by the federal government during the same period (Brazil, 2016). As at the federal level, youth and racial equality policies were incorporated into these agendas. Their stated objective was to bring together “the set of governmental commitments related to issues of a cross-cutting and multisectoral nature” (Rio Grande do Norte, 2016, p. 39).

Within the PPA, intersectorality, referred to as multisectorality, was presented as an integral component of these Cross-Cutting Agendas. Although the term intersectionality did not appear explicitly, the document revealed an effort to make visible the connections between specific social groups and forms of inequality through what it termed policy lenses or analytical categories (e.g., racial and ethnic categories) (Rio Grande do Norte, 2016). While this approach does not amount to a fully developed intersectional framework, it can be interpreted as exhibiting certain intersectional features.

The 2016–2019 PPA also established a programme dedicated to youth autonomy and emancipation, with particular emphasis on consolidating the institutional infrastructure of the Secretariat for Youth Affairs, strengthening mechanisms of social participation, and enhancing links with national programmes and initiatives. Furthermore, reflecting priorities identified by youth movements during the Third Youth Conference, the Juventude Viva Programme occupied a prominent place within the Plan. Proposed actions included conducting a territorially focused diagnostic assessment, preparing a state-level Juventude Viva Plan, and establishing the State Management Committee for the Programme (Rio Grande do Norte, 2016). Programme indicators focused primarily on violence, including the “Number of Homicides among Young People Aged 15 to 29 per 100,000 Inhabitants” (Rio Grande do Norte, 2016).

As Maria explained during her interview: “We managed to join the National Juventude Viva Programme, a plan that we had helped design years earlier at the federal level. ... What we did was engage all the state government secretariats in dialogue.”.

This statement illustrates an intentional effort to address youth and racial equality through intersectoral and mainstreaming approaches informed by intersectional concerns. The Juventude Viva Programme provided a concrete institutional expression of this strategy. Once again, evidence of federal induction can be identified in the trajectory of state-level policymaking.

However, lower emphasis was placed on racial equality policies during this period, despite their inclusion among the state’s Cross-Cutting Agendas (Rio Grande do Norte, 2016). Related initiatives were incorporated into a broader programme entitled “Justice and Citizenship”, which included affirmative action measures such as training and capacity-building activities (Rio Grande do Norte, 2016, p. 168). These actions remained relatively limited in scope and were not organized within a programme dedicated exclusively to racial equality, making it difficult to identify specific budgetary allocations.

Following the breakdown of political alliances within Governor Robinson Faria’s coalition, several initiatives were discontinued. The Extraordinary Secretariat for Youth Affairs was particularly affected, no longer being led by individuals directly connected to youth policy advocacy and gradually losing political influence within the administration, as reported by Maria. According to the interviewee: “A large part of the social initiatives that existed there were connected to our presence within Robinson’s government. Once we were no longer there, it was as if they felt free to abandon any commitment to those agendas.”. This interpretation is reinforced by Marília, who stated: “The impression is that when the PT (Workers’ party) left the government, these causes ceased to be priorities, and things simply stopped on their tracks.”.

In this context, policy dismantling reflected broader political shifts and the governor’s ideological realignment. As highlighted by the interviewees, youth and racial equality policies experienced a process of institutional hollowing-out. Their institutional development had advanced most significantly when the administration maintained closer ties to left-wing political actors, whose connections with Black and youth movements were historically more consolidated.

Reorientation away from the federal government

The administration of Fátima Bezerra (2019–2022) represented a new political realignment, with significant consequences for the trajectories of the policy areas examined in this study. As a member of the Workers’ Party (PT), the governor stood in opposition to President Jair Bolsonaro, whose administration was marked by tensions with social movements,including Black and youth movements,and by the dismantling of cross-cutting public policies (Gomide et al., 2023; Carlos, Pereira, & Rodrigues, 2025). The state government was therefore more closely aligned with the demands advanced by Black and youth movements and with the legacy of previous federal administrations led by PT (Workers’ Party) than with the contemporary federal government.

At the national level, youth and racial equality policies experienced processes of discontinuation, institutional hollowing-out, budgetary contraction, and declining administrative capacity (Perez & Luz, 2019). Consequently, while youth and racial equality policies underwent substantial dismantling at the federal level, the government of Rio Grande do Norte undertook concrete efforts to rebuild and strengthen both policy areas.

The beginning of the Fátima Bezerra administration was marked by an Administrative Reform that created the State Secretariat for Women, Youth, Racial Equality, and Human Rights (SEMJIDH). The Secretariat was structured around three subsecretariats, namely Women, Youth, and Human Rights, with COEPPIR incorporated into the latter (Complementary Law No. 649/2019).

Although SEMJIDH incorporated the term “racial equality” into its official title, the institutional status of the racial equality policy body remained unchanged, continuing to operate as a coordination office rather than a higher-ranking secretariat. As a result, the hierarchical asymmetry between youth and racial equality policy agencies persisted. Leadership positions in both policy areas were assigned to individuals with strong ties to their respective social movements: Gabriel Miranda in youth policy and Giselma Omilê Rocha in racial equality policy.

Reflecting upon the institutional design of SEMJIDH, interviewee João noted: “The government decided to create it based on the federal model. This was already the structure adopted during President Dilma’s second term, which was a kind of ‘super-ministry’ designed to facilitate dialogue with civil society.”. The objective was to promote greater integration among the cross-cutting policy areas grouped within SEMJIDH, mirroring the ministerial reform introduced by Dilma Rousseff at the beginning of her second term. Nevertheless, this institutional arrangement also raises questions regarding the practical priority accorded to these policy agendas. As interviewee Marília noted: “Everything is there, but there is no clear sense of which policies are actually being implemented . . . or whether they are genuinely government priorities.”.

Both policy areas underwent processes of institutional reorganization during this period, including efforts to strengthen democratic governance structures. According to interviewee Joana, one of the first measures adopted in the field of racial equality policy was “joining SINAPIR”. Rio Grande do Norte was the last state in Brazil’s Northeast region to adhere to the National System for the Promotion of Racial Equality, doing so under the basic modality, which provides access to lower levels of federal support and incentives (Secretariat for Policies to Promote Racial Equality, 2015).

According to Joana, a working group was established to develop the State Plan for Racial Equality. The preparation of such a plan had previously been listed among the responsibilities of COEPPIR, the Intergovernmental Forum for Racial Equality Policies, and the 2016–2019 Multiannual Plan (Rio Grande do Norte, 2016). Although repeatedly identified as a priority throughout the policy trajectory, this longstanding demand ultimately failed to materialize.

Efforts to strengthen democratic governance also gained momentum through the organization of state conferences in 2022, including the Fourth State Youth Conference and the Fifth State Conference on the Promotion of Racial Equality (Decree No. 31,272/2022; Rio Grande do Norte, 2022). While a new administration of CONSEPPIR took office during this period (Rio Grande do Norte, 2020), youth policy was marked by the effective implementation of CEJUV in 2019.

The council’s non-governmental representation included traditional communities, Afro-Brazilian religious organizations, and Black youth movements. Furthermore, one of the priorities of the Youth Subsecretariat was addressing the extermination of Black youth (Rio Grande do Norte, 2022). These elements suggest that youth policy incorporated intersectionality as a normative orientation, although this does not necessarily imply the existence of policies that were themselves designed through an explicitly intersectional framework.

The analysis of the 2020–2023 Multiannual Plan (PPA) provides important evidence regarding the extent to which commitments to strengthening these two policy areas were maintained, as well as the degree to which the three approaches discussed in this article were incorporated into state planning. A notable continuity from the previous PPA is the maintenance of Cross-Cutting Agendas, defined as policies that “group together initiatives directed toward specific populations and implemented across varying governmental bodies” (Rio Grande do Norte, 2020, p. 407).

Unlike previous planning cycles, however, this formulation moved away from treating mainstreaming as synonymous with intersectorality. Instead, it more closely resembled the concept of mainstreaming adopted in this article, namely the incorporation of new perspectives aimed at guaranteeing rights and promoting policies for historically marginalized populations.

The main youth initiative included in the PPA was the Juventude Viva (Living Youth) programme. However, although its indicators incorporated concerns regarding youth homicide, its focus differed substantially from the earlier federal initiative bearing the same name. The state programme prioritized entrepreneurship and vocational training for young people engaged in family farming and made no explicit reference to racial inequality (Rio Grande do Norte, 2020, p. 444).

Racial issues, by contrast, were addressed through the programme “Equality in Diversity: Racial and Ethnic Equality”, whose objective was to coordinate “public policies related to culture, employment, and income generation for the Black population and traditional communities” while promoting professional qualification and related initiatives (Rio Grande do Norte, 2020, p. 454). Racial equality also appeared transversally across other programmes, targets, and governmental initiatives (Rio Grande do Norte, 2020, p. 445).

Discussion of findings and final considerations

The purpose of this article was to analyse the trajectories of racial equality and youth policies in the state of Rio Grande do Norte between 2006 and 2022, considering their relationship with the national context and examining the incorporation of mainstreaming, intersectorality, and intersectionality into policy design. In doing so, the study also aimed to contribute to the further conceptual development of these approaches through empirical research.

Overall, four distinct phases were identified throughout the trajectory of the policies under examination: (1) the beginning of the trajectory (2003–2010); (2) a change in direction (2011–2014); (3) deviations from the trajectory (2015–2018); and (4) reorientation away from the federal government (2019–2022).

During the initial phase of both policy trajectories in Rio Grande do Norte, advances were made in the establishment of democratic governance structures, reflecting broader federal induction effects, although policy planning remained largely centred on isolated initiatives. As interviewee João observed with regard to youth policy, an observation that is equally applicable to racial equality policy: “those first cycles of youth policy were all about institutionalization: creating agencies and funds and beginning to pave the way for the policy.”.

The analysis also revealed early indications of mainstreaming and intersectorality. Despite the similarities in the development of both policy areas within the state, they evolved largely in parallel, with limited points of interaction and a greater degree of institutional priority afforded to youth policies. These points of convergence emerged primarily through demands articulated by social movements, particularly within participatory arenas such as policy conferences.

The subsequent phase, characterised here as a change in direction, revealed that although governance arrangements and policy instruments were not formally dismantled, there was a growing tendency towards policy discontinuity through inaction, especially in the field of racial equality. The trajectory of youth policy was more erratic, marked by isolated advances. This process resembles what the literature on policy dismantling identifies in periods such as the Bolsonaro administration in Brazil (Carlos et al., 2025; Gomide et al., 2023). Moreover, this phase witnessed a divergence between state and federal policy trajectories, thereby reducing the federal government’s capacity to induce policy development. No significant advances were observed regarding the adoption of mainstreaming, intersectoral, or intersectional approaches.

The period described as deviations from the trajectory largely reflected changes occurring at the national level. Whereas the beginning of the administration was characterised by alignment between the state and federal governments, thus facilitating induction processes that strengthened both policy areas, the post-impeachment context, on the other hand, produced significant shifts. A substantial portion of Black and youth movements positioned themselves in opposition to governments that had supported the removal of President Dilma Rousseff. Consequently, many of the advances identified during the initial stage remained confined to the level of policy design and planning rather than implementation. Youth policies continued to receive greater institutional priority and achieved a higher degree of consolidation than racial equality policies. At the same time, both policy domains came to be framed as cross-cutting agendas requiring intersectoral strategies. Through the use of policy “lenses” or “categories”, it became possible to identify traces of intersectionality linking youth and racial equality policies.

Finally, the phase termed reorientation away from the federal government revealed a new redirection of both policy trajectories. This reorientation occurred in opposition to the contemporary federal administration but maintained strong connections with the legacy of previous federal governments led by PT (Workers’ Party). During this period, efforts were undertaken to strengthen youth and racial equality mainstreaming through intersectoral approaches. Intersectionality, however, remained less clearly articulated. Its presence could be identified only indirectly through initiatives associated with youth policy, such as the Juventude Viva (Living Youth) Programme.

Considering the overall trajectory of youth and racial equality policies in Rio Grande do Norte, this study argues that both intersectorality and mainstreaming were progressively incorporated into these policy domains. Over time, the contours of these approaches, as well as the distinctions between them, became more clearly defined, although mainstreaming and intersectorality were frequently treated as synonymous. Beginning with the adoption of Cross-Cutting Agendas during the Robinson Faria and Fátima Bezerra administrations, mainstreaming became associated with the articulation of policies directed towards specific populations, an approach that necessarily presupposes intersectoral coordination. Nevertheless, the transformative potential of both mainstreaming and intersectorality remained largely underexplored. In practice, these approaches were generally limited to the creation and democratization of governance structures and rarely extended to the substantive redesign of public policies, programmes, and projects.

Intersectionality was never explicitly articulated throughout the policy trajectories analysed. Rather than identifying genuine policy convergence, the study found points of contact between parallel trajectories, which are described in this study as traces of intersectionality. One example is the use of policy “lenses” or “categories” within the 2016–2019 Multiannual Plan. It is worth noting, however, that such categories do not entail the integration and articulation of inequalities that intersectionality prescribes. These traces were more evident within participatory institutions, such as conferences and councils, which prioritized the intersections of race and youth, for example, through resolutions adopted at Youth Conferences and through the inclusion of Black movement representatives within CEJUV. It was within the Juventude Viva Programme, originally formulated by the federal government and later adopted by the state government, that these intersectional elements became most visible.

The three approaches examined in this study share a common commitment to moving beyond policy paradigms grounded in simplification and segmentation, instead emphasizing complexity and integrated responses to social problems. Consequently, even when policymakers intentionally seek to adopt these approaches, their effective implementation remains challenging. Intersectionality is the most recent of the three approaches within the field of public policy and is also the most disruptive and innovative, as it requires a more profound reconfiguration of policy logics, rights frameworks, and political coalitions. Despite these challenges, mainstreaming, intersectorality, and intersectionality offer promising pathways for advancing both public policy practice and research.

Federal induction played an important role in the development of youth and racial equality policies and in the adoption of the approaches analysed in this study. In the case of Rio Grande do Norte, however, these effects were most evident when state and federal governments shared ideological affinities and occupied positions further to the left of the political spectrum. In Brazil, so-called cross-cutting policies have historically been associated with left-wing administrations, largely due to their close relationships with the social movements that advocate for such policies. Nevertheless, ideological affinity does not automatically translate into policy prioritization. Conversely, the dismantling of these policy areas proved more pronounced under right-wing administrations, both nationally and subnationally.

Particular characteristics of the territory under analysis must also be considered. From the outset of the policy trajectory in Rio Grande do Norte, youth policies received greater priority than racial equality policies, a pattern that does not reflect the federal induction observed during the same period. At the federal level, racial equality policy enjoyed greater institutional status and visibility than youth policy. This finding suggests that youth movements may be stronger and more organized in Rio Grande do Norte than the Black movement. However, substantiating such an argument would require dedicated empirical research, which points to promising avenues for future research.

This study is subject to several limitations. Firstly, the reconstruction of policy trajectories focused on policy design rather than implementation, despite the fact that mainstreaming, intersectorality, and intersectionality are ultimately operationalized during implementation processes. Secondly, the analysis did not incorporate other social relations that generate inequalities, such as gender, territory, and disability. Finally, the study focused exclusively on the case of Rio Grande do Norte, although similar analyses could be replicated across other subnational governments. These limitations, however, also constitute opportunities for future research.

With regard to the intended and achieved outcomes of this study, the primary objective was to systematize empirical knowledge concerning public policy experiences aimed at addressing inequalities in Rio Grande do Norte. Such knowledge may contribute to local and regional development practices, which remain among the core missions of public universities, particularly those located in Brazil’s Northeast region. The study’s purpose, however, was not merely to document regional inequalities, but also to recognize the Northeast as a source of knowledge production and innovative practices for addressing them.

This discussion is particularly timely in the current political context. With the beginning of President Lula’s third administration, the Ministry of Racial Equality was established, the National Youth Secretariat was reinstated, and the Black Youth Living Plan (Plano Juventude Negra Viva – PJNV) was launched.

In order to contribute to the practice of these public policies, this study suggests that efforts to strengthen youth and racial equality policies in Rio Grande do Norte and elsewhere should prioritize the consolidation of democratic governance arrangements, ensuring their continuity and capacity for intersectoral coordination regardless of political change. This requires not only strengthening the institutional foundations of such policies, but also providing them with adequate resources, including personnel and budgetary allocations, as well as political legitimacy, thereby moving them from the margins to the centre of governmental agendas.

The sustainability of policies such as those addressing racial equality and youth issues cannot be guaranteed by laws or decrees alone. Although institutionalization remains important, it is equally essential to expand the capillarity of these policies, both through engagement with organized civil society and through the strengthening of policy capacities at state and municipal levels. The territorial expansion and federal diffusion of policies such as those examined in this study constitute important strategies for resisting policy dismantling.

Approaches such as mainstreaming, intersectorality, and intersectionality can contribute to the development of state capacities. However, this requires moving beyond the mere invocation of these concepts or generic declarations of intent. Instead, they must be incorporated as concrete policy strategies capable of generating tangible initiatives, including funding mechanisms, programme design innovations, and training programmes for public officials responsible for implementation. Budgetary planning represents a particularly critical dimension of this process. Consequently, greater learning is needed from methodologies related to mainstreaming within public budgeting and to budgeting that is responsive to gender and race.

Intersectionality, in particular, should be incorporated as a structuring principle capable of articulating policies and actions that respond simultaneously to multiple forms of inequality, moving beyond isolated policy categories or fragmented approaches. Nevertheless, intersectionality functions more as a guiding principle for action than as a policy instrument in itself and should therefore be systematically articulated with mainstreaming and intersectorality.

This study further suggests expanding the integration between youth and racial equality policies through the development of joint initiatives and shared targets within Multiannual Plans (PPAs). Social participation should be strengthened as a key mechanism for promoting these approaches, followed by robust institutional arrangements capable of transforming the deliberations of conferences and policy councils into concrete governmental commitments.

Finally, this study recommends continuous technical training to enable public officials to operationalize these approaches effectively, as well as the development of monitoring and evaluation systems sensitive to the principles of mainstreaming, intersectorality, and intersectionality. Such systems would provide transversal policies with more sophisticated management tools and evidence-based decision-making mechanisms.

Beyond its practical contribution, which constitutes the article’s primary contribution, the authors also argue that this study offers a theoretical contribution through the further conceptual refinement of mainstreaming, intersectorality, and intersectionality, including a clearer delineation of the boundaries between these concepts. All three approaches embody important promises for innovation within the field of public policy. However, further theoretical and empirical advances remain necessary if these promises are to be fully realized.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Maria Luiza Nunes for her contributions and reflections, which supported the development of this article.

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Notes

• 1
  . Not all authors cited in this article use the concept of intersectionality; some strands of feminism have raised critiques regarding its use. See Hirata (2014).
• 2
  . This article does not aim to trace the origins of these concepts or discuss their different approaches. For further discussion, see Marcondes, Sandim, and Diniz (2018) and Hirata (2014).
• 3
  . In 2023, with the beginning of Lula’s administration and the reorganization of national policies for youth and the Black population, the Juventude Negra Viva (Living Black Youth) initiative was created.
• 4
  . The second administration of Fátima Bezerra, which began in 2023, was not included in this analysis.
• Inclusive Language:
  The authors use inclusive language that acknowledges diversity, demonstrates respect for all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities.
• Plagiarism Check:
  O&S submits all manuscripts approved for publication to plagiarism screening using specialized software.
• Data Availability:
  O&S encourages data sharing. However, in accordance with ethical principles, it does not require the disclosure of any information that could identify research participants, fully preserving their privacy. Open data practices seek to ensure transparency in research findings without revealing the identity of research participants.
• Funding:
  The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by Propesq-UFRN through an undergraduate research scholarship.

• Associate Editor:
  Maria Elisabete Pereira dos Santos

Data availability

O&S encourages data sharing. However, in accordance with ethical principles, it does not require the disclosure of any information that could identify research participants, fully preserving their privacy. Open data practices seek to ensure transparency in research findings without revealing the identity of research participants.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  07 Aug 2026
• Date of issue
  2026

History

• Received
  17 Mar 2024
• Accepted
  09 Jan 2026