Abstract
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is undeniably the most serious health crisis the world has known since the Great Influenza of 1918. In the case of Brazil, the pandemic brought a series of poor decisions by federal authorities that spread the virus, leading to increased need of assistance to patients, and higher mortality rates to disenfranchised people. This chapter reviews the roles of the Brazilian government and Brazilian society during the pandemic supported by available evidence gained from the fields of epidemiology, social science, social psychology, and public administration. The review shows that clientelism of the state, with its focus on maintaining state power and the status quo, meant the politics of inequality continued and worsened during COVID-19. This process of rebound and recovery will require a focus on social value. The pandemic showed that communities in Brazil can organize to meet their own needs, building on their solidarity and resilience, suggesting grass roots approaches to advancing social value are critical.
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Kisil, M. (2023). Social Value During a Pandemic: Insights from Brazil. In: Nikolakis, W., Moura da Veiga, R. (eds) Social Value, Climate Change and Environmental Stewardship: Insights from Theory and Practice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23145-2_5
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