Estado de bem-estar social e políticas de austeridade : análise do princípio da proibição do retrocesso social no contexto brasileiro e português.

Abstract

This dissertation deals with the principle of the prohibition of social retrogression as a protective instrument of social rights in the face of the implementation of austerity policies in the Brazilian and European context, in the period 2009-2019. The research problem of this dissertation is: what is the importance and scope that the principle of prohibition of social retrogression has been assuming in the context of austerity policies and the preservation of social rights in Brazil and Portugal? The general objective is to ascertain the importance and scope that the principle of the prohibition of social retrogression has been assuming in the context of austerity policies and the preservation of social rights in Brazil and Portugal. The specific objectives are: to describe important historical aspects related to the evolution of the Welfare State, its crisis with neoliberal governments and the reaffirmation by communitarianism, to discuss the relationship between social rights, the crisis of public finances and austerity policies; c) and, investigate the relevance of the principle of social retrogression, its application in Brazilian and Portuguese courts and its social and legislative effects to contain the setbacks of fundamental social rights. The method used is the historical-critical combined with the deductive method. The method of procedure is monographic and the research technique is bibliographic and documentary. The study is based on the communitarian thinking of Amitai Etzioni, in addition to authors such as Ingo Wolfgang Sarlet, José Joaquim Gomes Canotilho, Manuel Castells, Robert Alexy and Thomas Piketty. The proposed theme fits the research line Public Policies for Social Inclusion, the Concentration on Social Demands and Public Policies line of the Postgraduate Law Program at the University of Santa Cruz do Sul and the Postgraduate Law Program European Union, University of Minho. In addition, it is in line with the debates and research carried out in the research group “Communitarianism and Public Policies”, linked to the PPGD / UNISC. As main results, it was verified that the principle of the prohibition of social retrogression is applied in a different way in the Brazilian, Portuguese or European bloc scope in the protection of social rights, but having in common the maintenance of the existential minimum and the dignity of the human person as values that cannot be violated by economic crises. Regardless of the current legal system, it can be said that the principle of social retrogression is not presented only as a guiding principle for jurists, government officials or a material limit for legislators, but rather as a precept that induces all Powers, civil society and the market to carry out measures based on the necessary limits so that everyone has a dignified life and so that the social struggles carried out throughout the historical process of society are not discarded in the search for short-term economic growth.