Abstract
This work proposes theoretical and conceptual resources helpful in understanding forms of agency and female autonomy among poor and black women living in large urban centers in Brazil. In its development, we made theoretical-conceptual choices of feminism, the sociology of the subject, and the sociology of agency. We mobilized them in the challenge of sociologically interpreting the trajectory of Rosa, a 67-year-old black woman, resident in Belém do Pará and a beneficiary of the Bolsa Família. With a dense description of Rosa’s narrative, we are interested in apprehending the interactions between the limitations that constrain action and the opportunities that result in the pursuit of realizing their interests. With this, we seek to locate in her narrative the network of solidarity in which the fabric of choices, agencies, and opportunities is anchored and strengthened simultaneously as it drives her to dribble obstacles.
Keywords
black women; development; Bolsa Família Program; gender; reflexivity