Emerging ethos: ethnographic notes on the so-called "success"

In the 1990s, the sociological map in Rio de Janeiro witnessed a new social segment. The "new emerging society," a network of relations formed by social subjects abiding a recent and expressive social ascension, has been in the print media for six years. The term "emerging," borrowed from the economic terminology used to refer to ascending economies, though sometimes used for stigmatization, prizes successful people with a special appreciation, for it has the appeal of metamorphosing historical yearnings of a promising Brazilianism. Based on newspaper articles and ethnography carried out from living amid integrants of such network, the article analyses the complex ideation referring to concepts of productivity, competitiveness, and economic success prevailing in the contemporary Brazilian society.

Money; Success; Work; Consumption; Media