Orientador: Gilda Figueiredo Portugal Gouvea / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciencias Humanas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-14T05:05:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gambarotto_Paola.pdf: 1067569 bytes, checksum: 9343516d695b785d8d5538814c4c0488 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: Esta pesquisa tem por finalidade uma análise qualitativa das famílias monoparentais de classe média chefiadas por mulheres na cidade de São Paulo. Por se tratar de um tema amplo, plural e que traz inscrito dimensões como gênero, classe, etnia e trabalho, optamos por circunscrever o foco de observação sobre a transformação da condição feminina na segunda metade do século XX, com especial atenção para o seu processo de individualização. Entende-se que esse processo se dá de diferentes formas, dependendo do grupo social estudado; assim, com base na literatura existente sobre as transformações familiares e a monoparentalidade, observamos, através de entrevistas, a transformação das possibilidades de escolha feminina na classe média. Utilizando conceitos e análises acerca da transformação da vida social e seus desdobramentos para a intimidade, privilegiamos uma reconstrução das mudanças históricas no Brasil, tal como fazem Antony Giddens, Ulrich Beck, Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim e François de Singly, e construímos um roteiro de entrevistas utilizado com cinco mulheres brancas, de alta escolaridade, naturais do município de São Paulo, divorciadas, com filhos e idades que variam entre 50 e 60 anos. As entrevistas servem como contraponto empírico para uma retomada bibliográfica acerca das transformações das possibilidades biográficas femininas. A faixa etária analisada traz especificidades, pois fez parte do processo de intensificação da entrada feminina no mercado de trabalho, da mobilização feminista da década de 1970 e da legalização do divórcio no Brasil. Trata-se de um grupo que vivenciou mudanças sociais que, mesmo indicando uma maior igualdade feminina na vida pública, não extinguiu totalmente as desigualdades ainda afirmadas pelo mercado de trabalho e pelas representações sociais de gênero / Abstract: The aim of this thesis is the qualitative analysis of middle class one-parent families led by women in São Paulo Capital. As we dealt with a wide-ranging issue, which implies the conceptual dimensions of genre, class, ethnic group and labour, our main concern was to focus on the changes of the female condition in the second half of the 20th century, with special regard to women's individualization process. Varying from group to group, this process occurs in many different ways; thus, keeping in mind authoritative research on family changes and monoparentality, and the reconstruction of Brazilian historical changes as well, we have observed transformations on the possibilities of choice among middle-class women. To grasp these changes, an interview script was developed and applied to five white women, all mothers aged from 50 to 60 years. These interviews serve as empirical counterpart to a bibliographic revision concerning changes on the construction of female biography during the last century. In this sense, the age bracket we focused on brings its specificities, since it corresponds to the intensification of female integration in the market labour, the feminist mobilization of 1970's and, finally, the divorce legalization in Brazil. Even though it is a generation which lived in equal conditions to men in some fields, women of this group still experience inequality affirmed by labour market and genre social representations / Universidade Estadual de Campi / Teoria Sociologica e Pensamento Social / Mestre em Sociologia

Orientador: Ricardo Luiz Coltro Antunes / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-21T00:50:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cavalcante_Savio_D.pdf: 2831568 bytes, checksum: ce929ef6372834848260d8d38bc0bea3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: Esta tese é uma incursão crítica no debate marxista acerca das classes sociais, em geral, e das classes médias, em particular. O objetivo foi o de indicar, contextualizar e problematizar as questões teóricas subjacentes ao relativo incômodo de trabalhos marxistas com o tema das classes médias. Nossa tese é a de que a forma pouco consensual do marxismo em trabalhar com o conceito (geralmente, recusando-o) não se deve apenas ao fato de o termo ter sido mais desenvolvido pela ótica da estratificação social. As inúmeras controvérsias a esse respeito devemse principalmente a formas distintas de análise da própria obra de Marx, no tocante a temas como trabalho produtivo/improdutivo, trabalho manual/intelectual e a divisão capitalista do trabalho. Ao contrário de inúmeros trabalhos críticos produzidos a partir da metade do século XX, que alegavam ser o crescimento das classes médias uma prova do equívoco de Marx, seguimos a hipótese segundo a qual o problema das classes médias é compatível com a teoria marxista, que apresenta teses importantes para sua explicação na sociedade contemporânea. Usamos, para tanto, um conjunto variado de argumentos e propostas, em especial a partir das contribuições de G. Carchedi, N. Poulantzas e D. Saes. A intenção foi evidenciar a possibilidade e importância da análise marxista não apenas em relação à classe média tradicional - referente à pequena propriedade e vista como resquício de modos de produção anteriores e "em transição" - mas também no tocante à classe média assalariada (não proprietária) que surge como resultado do próprio desenvolvimento do capitalismo / Abstract: This thesis is a critical study of Marxist debate on social classes, with especial focus on the concept of middle classes. The aim is to indicate, contextualize and discuss theoretical issues underlying the discomfort that exists in Marxist works in relation to the subject of middle classes. Our argument is that the lack of consensus in Marxism about this concept (generally, it is refused) not only is due to the fact that concept has been further developed from the perspective of social stratification. From our point of view, several controversies are mainly explained by different accounts of Marx's work itself, especially with regard to issues such as productive and unproductive labour, manual and intellectual labour and the capitalist division of work. Unlike many critical studies made since the mid-twentieth century, which have claimed that the growth of the middle class was an evidence of misunderstanding of Marx, we follow the assumption that the problem of the middle classes is compatible with Marxist theory, which can offer important theses for its explanation in contemporary society. In order to discuss middles classes in Marxist theory, we follow a number of arguments especially from the contributions of G. Carchedi, N. Poulantzas and D. Saes. The aim is to demonstrate the feasibility and importance of Marxist analysis not only with regard to the traditional middle class - that is, the small property which is viewed as residue of earlier modes of production and then as "in transition" - but also to wageearners middle class (nonproprietary) that arises as a result of the development of capitalism itself / Doutorado / Sociologia / Doutor em Sociologia

Este artículo estudia el efecto del envejecimiento de los vecinos sobre las organizaciones locales en San Felipe, un barrio de clase media en Lima, Perú. Ilustro el efecto de este fenómeno usando el caso del control del espacio público en el barrio. Para esta investigación realicé observación participante durante un año. Durante ese año observé la dinámica de las asambleas locales, entrevisté a 46 vecinos de distintas características y observé una gran cantidad de situaciones y controversias entre vecinos en los espacios públicos de San Felipe. Encuentro que los adultos-mayores son los que imponen su punto de vista respecto al destino del barrio. Dicho resultado es sorprendente pues los adultos-mayores no son ni el grupo demográficamente más importante, ni el de mayores recursos. Sostengo que ello ocurre porque los adultos-mayores transforman el tiempo (un recurso escaso para los adultos-jóvenes, pero ampliamente disponible para los adultos-mayores) en poder organizacional. Con dicho poder organizacional, los adultos-mayores logran influir en los funcionarios municipales quienes no sólo defienden el punto de vista de los adultos-mayores respecto al espacio público, sino que además lo transforman de acuerdo al mismo. / In this article, I study the effect of aging of neighbors on local organizations in San Felipe, a middle-class neighborhood in Lima, Peru. I elaborate on this effect by using the case of the control of public space in the neighborhood. I conducted participant observation during a year. During that year, I observed the dynamics of local organizations’ meetings; I interviewed 46 residents of different characteristics; and I observed a large amount of situations andcontroversies among actors in San Felipe’s public space. I find that senior residents are the ones who impose their point of view about the neighborhood’s fortune. This result is surprising considering that senior residents are neither the most numerous group in the neighborhood, neither the one with higher resources. I claim that that happens because senior residents transform time (a scarce resource for young-adult neighbors, though abundant for the seniorneighbors) into organizational power. With that organizational power, senior residents are able to influence on the municipality’s functionaries who not only defend the discourse of senior residents regarding the use of public space, but also transform it according to this discourse.

Cette thèse cherchera à comprendre la diffusion de la spiritualité contemporaine dans le cadre d'une série de transformations dans la vie quotidienne d'une partie des secteurs moyens argentins. L'un de ses objectifs sera la compréhension du phénomène de la spiritualité Nouvel-âge. dans les secteurs moyens argentins en tant que composant d'un mode de vie. L'un de ses objectifs sera la compréhension du phénomène de la spiritualité Nouvel-âge. Cela impliquera l'analyse des différentes façons dont les cosmovisions et les pratiques spirituelles s’articulent avec d'autres dimensions de la vie quotidienne, tels que l'éducation, la santé, le lieu de résidence et de la vie économique. Ce problème fait partie de l’augmentation de la visibilité de diverses expressions de religiosité dans les sphères publiques au cours des dernières décennies.À un niveau plus concret, la thèse cherchera à montrer l'influence des réseaux de sociabilité et des espaces de socialisationspirituelle dans la diffusion d'une cosmovision et de certaines orientations de valeur qui affectent les formes prises par les différentes pratiques de la vie quotidienne. Dans un niveau encore plus empirique, cette thèse cherchera à contribuer à la compréhension des processus d'influence mutuelle entre la religiosité, comprise comme un phénomène culturel, et les configurations de l'espace. Pour ce faire, on analysera le cas des acteurs participant à des processus de mobilité résidentielle vers une zone de la partie nord de la périphérie de Buenos Aires a partir des années 1990 en lien avec des espaces et des pratiques spirituelles. Les donnes qui sont analysés ici ont été construites à partir d'une stratégie d'enquête qualitative fondée, principalement, sur une recherche ethnographique. / This thesis aims to understand the diffusion of contemporary spirituality as part of a series of transformations in everyday life within Argentinian middle classes. One of its principal objectives is to study New Age spirituality in Argentinian middle classes as part of a lifestyle. This involves the analysis of the ways in which spiritual worldviews and practices are articulated with the practices of other dimensions of everyday life, such as education, health, places of residence and economic life. This problem has been part of the bigger process of diffusion of this type of religiosity through different public spaces during the last decades. In a more concrete level, this thesis has the purpose of showing the influence of sociability networks and spiritual socializing spaces in the diffusion of new worldviews and certain valorative orientations that impact the way in which social actors carry out their everyday practices. In an even more empirical level, this thesis aims to contribute to the comprehension of the processes of mutual influence between religiosity, understood as a cultural phenomenon, and space configurations. The accomplishment of these objectives will involve the analysis of the case of a series of social actors that have moved to a neighbourhood in the periphery of Northern Buenos Aires’ since 1990 and are involved with spiritual practices and spaces. The data was built by means of a qualitative research strategy fundamentally based on ethnographical fieldwork. / Esta tesis buscará comprender la difusión de la espiritualidad contemporánea como parte de una serie de transformaciones en la vida cotidiana de una parte de los sectores medios argentinos. Uno de sus objetivos será estudiar del fenómeno de la espiritualidad Nueva Era en los sectores medios argentinos como parte de un estilo de vida. Ello implicará el análisis de las distintas formas en que se articulan las cosmovisiones y prácticas espirituales con otras dimensiones de la vida cotidiana, como la educación, la salud, el lugar de residencia y la vida económica. Este problema se enmarca en un proceso de difusión de este tipo de religiosidad sobre distintos ámbitos públicos durante las últimas décadas. A un nivel más concreto, la tesis buscará mostrar la influencia de las redes de sociabilidad y los espacios de socialización espiritual en la difusión de una cosmovisión y de determinadas orientaciones valorativas que impactan en la manera en que se llevan adelante distintas prácticas de la vida cotidiana. En un nivel aún más empírico, esta tesis buscará contribuir a la comprensión de los procesos de mutua influencia entre la religiosidad, entendida como un fenómeno cultural, y las configuraciones del espacio. Para ello, se analizará el caso de actores que desarrollaron procesos de movilidad residencial a una localidad ubicada en la zona norte de la periferia de Buenos Aires a partir de la década de 1990 y que presentan algún tipo de vínculo con espacios y prácticas espirituales. Los datos aquí analizados fueron construidos a partir de una estrategia de investigación cualitativa basada, fundamentalmente, en un trabajo de campo etnográfico.

This paper investigates whether privatisation of welfare services increases the Swedish middle classes’ support for the welfare state. This study is situated within an adaptation of the Paradox of Redistribution, according to which privatisation may be a way of accommodating the interests of an increasingly individualistic and autonomous middle class. The support of the middle classes is thought to be crucial, as it provides the resources necessary to maintain a comprehensive welfare state. A survey experiment is used in order to examine the causal link between specific information stimuli regarding to what degree specific welfare services are provided by private actors, and survey respondents’ personal willingness to pay taxes for specific welfare services. The use of information stimuli follows from an assumption of ill-informed respondents. The willingness to pay for specific welfare services serve as a micro-level indicator of welfare state support, with a macro-level indicator serving as a complement. Key evidence is found in the micro-level case of social services, and the overall results are taken to give support for the hypothesis. The paper provides important insights into how Swedish policy makers could reason with regards to the design of welfare services, if they are interested in securing the financing, and in turn, the longevity of a comprehensive welfare state.

Emil Lederer (1882 - 1939), born in Pilsen, Czech Republic, was an important figure of German social sciences. A close colleague of Max Weber and friend of Karl Mannheim or J. A. Schumpeter, he taught at universities in Heidelberg, Berlin and Tokyo. After fleeing Germany, he helped Alvin Johnson, director of the New School for Social Research, found the "University in Exile." Lederer's research centered on contemporary social problems, approaching them in a critical, objective, empirically- based way. One of the first to study the new middle classes before World War I, he also dealt with unemployment, technological progress and business cycles. Additionally, his analysis of state and its sovereignty in war lead him to study the question of totalitarianism. The present thesis first offers a detailed look at the events in Lederer's life which influenced his scientific work. Its central section presents the main ideas of Lederer's posthumous, and sociologically most important, monograph State of the Masses. Placing it within the context of his previous work, the thesis demonstrates the evolution of Lederer's thinking. By comparing the work with Hannah Arendt's Origins of Totalitarianism the thesis confirms existing assumptions that Lederer's text served as an unrecognized inspiration for Arendt. The...

“The Conservative Party and Perceptions of the British Middle Classes, 1951 – 1974,” explores conceptions of middle-class voters at various levels of the party organization after the Second World War. Since Benjamin Disraeli, Conservatives have endeavoured to represent national rather than sectional interests and appeal widely to a growing electorate. Yet, the middle classes and their interests have also enjoyed a special position in the Conservative political imagination often because the group insists they receive special consideration. It proved especially difficult to juggle these priorities after 1951 when Conservatives encountered two colliding challenges: the middle classes growing at a rapid rate, failing to form a unified outlook or identity, and the limited appeal of consumer rhetoric and interests owing to the uneven experience of affluence and prosperity. Conservative ideas and policies failed to acknowledge and resonate with the changing nature of their core supporters and antiquated local party organization reinforced feelings of alienation from and mistrust of new members of the middle classes as well as affluent workers. This research shows that there was no clear-cut path between postwar Conservatism to Margaret Thatcher’s brand of Conservatism in which the individual, self-sufficient and acquisitive middle-class consumer became the champion. Moreover, the Conservative Party revealed, in these discussions, that it was much less ideologically certain than narratives have allowed previously. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

[pt] Esta pesquisa estudou o fenômeno da repetência em um contexto pouco pesquisado– colégios de prestígio e camadas médias e altas. Apoiada em Revel (1998), assumi como estratégia para o estudo o jogo de escalas. O trabalho se divide em quatro partes que, em escalas diferentes, buscam analisar o fenômeno: na sua magnitude e no processo concreto de reprovação. A primeira parte com os dados do PISA de 2006 realizei uma comparação do risco de atraso escolar no Brasil com outros três países: o México, a Argentina e a Colômbia, considerando o nível socioeconômico e a dependência administrativa da escola, controlando os resultados pelo desempenho dos estudantes em leitura. Vi que o risco de defasagem é muito maior no Brasil do que nos outros países mesmo entre os alunos das camadas mais altas. Na segunda parte construí um panorama do fluxo escolar em 15 escolas entre as de maior pontuação pelo ranqueamento feito pelo Enem. Constatei que todas as escolas reprovam seus alunos, mas que existem diferentes padrões de reprovação. Na terceira parte do trabalho analisei a entrada e a saída dos alunos ao longo dos 11 anos necessários para a formatura de uma geração em duas escolas de prestígio, fiz o que chamei de ciclo de série. Observei que os níveis de reprovação têm dois pontos altos: na sexta e na sétima série, e no primeiro ano do ensino médio, praticamente inexiste a reprovação no primeiro segmento do ensino fundamental. Para cada dez alunos que entram nessas escolas apenas três se formam sem reprovações. A última parte do trabalho foi a observação dos conselhos de classe de uma das escolas pesquisadas anteriormente. A enturmação das turmas e a manutenção das médias em zona de corte favoreceram a possibilidade de reprovar os alunos. No momento da avaliação final destaca-se a importância de um tipo específico de envolvimento familiar e a melhor adequação dos alunos das camadas médias no projeto de escolas de prestígio. / [en] This dissertation analyzed the phenomenon of school failure in the light of an under-studied context: that of prestigious schools and middle to upper and classes. Based upon Revel (1998), we adopted the game of scales as our analytical strategy. The dissertation is divided into four parts which, in different measures, endeavor to study this phenomenon both in its magnitude and in the concrete process of school failure, by means of a microanalysis. Beginning with the PISA 2006 data, we compared the risk of being held back on probation in school in Brazil with that of three other countries: Mexico, Argentina and Colombia, considering their socioeconomic status and the schools management dependencies, using the students reading performance as a control measure. We found that the risk of probation holdup is much higher in Brazil than in other countries, even among students from high income social classes. In the second part of this study we charted the school attendance flux in 15 schools amongst those of highest standing in the Enem ranking. We found that all schools fail their students, but that there are different failure standards. In the third part of this study we sought to understand the entry and exit of students throughout the 11 years required for one generation to graduate by examining two prestigious schools, and establishing what we named a Cycle series. We observed that school failure levels reach their three critical moments in the 6th and 7th grades, and that for the junior (1st) year of high school, they are practically nonexistent in the first segment of basic education. For every ten students entering these schools, only three graduate without ever failing a grade. The last part of this study was the observation of student evaluation board meetings in the previously surveyed schools. Class composition and maintenance in the cutoff section favored the possibility of failing students. Our final evaluation highlights the importance of a specific sort of family involvement and how middleincome students tend to fit in better with these prestigious schools projects.

Desde finais do século XIX São Paulo vivenciou um intenso processo de mudanças, atreladas à transição da mão de obra escrava para a livre, o incentivo à imigração, a Proclamação da República, e a disponibilidade de capitais oriundos da riqueza gerada pelo café, o que permitiu sua expansão para outras áreas além do \"Triângulo\". Chácaras foram loteadas, novas ruas foram abertas, as ações governamentais que regulavam a cidade aprimoravam-se, e uma série de diferentes atores sociais entraram em cena, produzindo e vivenciando novos bairros. É a partir dessa perspectiva que o bairro do Brás surge. Procuramos estudar o bairro do Brás reconstituindo sua materialidade entre os anos de 1870 a 1915, com atenção ao seu processo de feitura, e principalmente aos seus agentes produtores, pondo luz especialmente nos setores médios que também envolveram-se na produção das cidades. Ao entrecruzarmos diferentes fontes, podemos imaginar os personagens e seus cenários de ação no passado, essencialmente a materialidade dos imóveis construídos, suas tipologias, seus programas edilícios, entrevendo alguns dos seus usos em seus respectivos endereços. Analisando a Série Obras Particulares do Arquivo Histórico de São Paulo, juntamente a cartografia, fotografias e outras fontes, podemos vislumbrar quem seriamos proprietários e construtores desses imóveis, bem como os agentes públicos que estiveram debruçados sobre cada pedido de construção solicitada à Prefeitura Municipal,ampliando a compreensão sobre o processo de urbanização do bairro atrelado às próprias mudanças que a cidade de São Paulo estava vivenciando. / At the close of the 19th century, São Paulo underwent intense changes as a result of the transition from slave labor to free, state-sponsored immigration, the overthrow of Brazil\'s empire and establishment of a republic, and increased capital availability due to the wealth generated by coffee production. These transformations allowed the city to urbanize beyond the historic \"Triangle\" that had been its center since the colonial era. Farms were divided into lots, new streets were laid out, government regulation was improved, and new social actors appeared on the scene. It was in this context that the neighborhood of Brás, so important to São Paulo\'s industrialization, was born. This study reconstructs the materiality of the construction of the neighborhood of Brás between 1870 and 1915. It focuses on the human agents who produced the neighborhood, especially the role of the middle classes, who were also involving themselves in the production of cities. By placing a variety of sources in dialogue with one another, it enables us to imagine us a series of characters and the stage they built as they played their roles on it - the materiality of the buildings, their typologies, and theirblueprints, envisioning, albeit imperfectly, some of the uses to which they were put. By analyzing the Obras Particulares series from the Historical Municipal Archive of São Paulo, along with cartography, photographs, and other sources, we can catch a glimpse of the buildings\' owners and constructors, along with civil servants as they leaned over each request for a building permit submitted to the city government. In so doing, this study enhances our understanding of Brás\'s urbanization, linking it to the broader processes of change that the city of São Paulo was experiencing.

Submitted by Maria Creuza Silva (mariakreuza@yahoo.com.br) on 2014-10-03T18:18:04Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE PALOMA SILVA SILVEIRA. 2014.pdf: 1367912 bytes, checksum: ce67615c64eb7aab04b8047bbf4f4aa8 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Creuza Silva (mariakreuza@yahoo.com.br) on 2014-10-07T14:02:12Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE PALOMA SILVA SILVEIRA. 2014.pdf: 1367912 bytes, checksum: ce67615c64eb7aab04b8047bbf4f4aa8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-07T14:02:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE PALOMA SILVA SILVEIRA. 2014.pdf: 1367912 bytes, checksum: ce67615c64eb7aab04b8047bbf4f4aa8 (MD5) / O aborto provocado é tema constante nas pesquisas brasileiras, na área da Saúde Pública, contudo, as temáticas da decisão e do itinerário abortivo são ainda pouco exploradas, sobretudo quando o aborto é realizado por pessoas de camadas médias. Esta tese visa contribuir para a superação desta lacuna ao analisar experiências de abortos de mulheres e homens pertencentes a estratos sociais médios do Nordeste brasileiro, focalizando a construção da decisão e o itinerário abortivo. Para isto, foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa no período de maio a dezembro de 2012, em que foram entrevistadas vinte mulheres e sete homens que passaram pela experiência de interromper uma gravidez. A tese está estruturada em duas partes. Na primeira parte, apresentamos uma revisão bibliográfica, a linha argumentativa da tese, os objetivos da pesquisa e o posicionamento teórico adotado referente a gênero e poder. Na segunda parte, são apresentados uma discussão metodológica e os resultados em forma de três artigos. No Artigo I, discutimos como a prática do aborto está envolta pelo segredo no Brasil e as consequências disto para a realização do estudo. Assim, analisamos as três lógicas identificadas que impõem o segredo ao aborto: a legal, a moral e a relacional e, posteriormente, tratamos dos aspectos metodológicos. No Artigo II, analisamos a construção da decisão pelo aborto. Constatamos que, para compreender a construção da decisão, temos que entendê-la como um processo composto por distintos momentos: a suspeita/confirmação da gestação, o pensar sobre o desfecho da gravidez, a tomada de decisão pela interrupção, o viabilizar esta decisão e o efetivar o aborto. No Artigo III, analisamos, especificamente, as experiências de aborto realizadas em clínicas privadas. Verificamos que existem diferentes clínicas e diversas modalidades de atendimento realizadas pelos médicos nestes serviços privados. Discutimos, assim, como a ilegalidade do aborto expõe as mulheres a situações de total vulnerabilidade. A tese é finalizada com algumas considerações relacionadas às contribuições da pesquisa. / Induced abortion is a constant theme in Brazilian research in the area of Public Health, however the themes of the decision and the abortion route are yet unexplored, especially when the abortion is performed by people of middle class. This thesis aims to contribute to overcoming this gap by analyzing the experiences of abortions in women and men from middle social strata of the Brazilian Northeast, focusing on the construction of the decision and the abortion route. For this, a study was conducted in the period May to December 2012, in which 20 women and seven men who had the experience to end a pregnancy were interviewed. The thesis is structured in two parts. In the first part we present a literature review, the line of argument put forward in this thesis, the theoretical position adopted regarding gender and power, and detail to support the research objectives. In the second part a methodological discussion and the results in the form of three articles are presented. In the article I discussed the way in which the practice of abortion is shrouded by secrecy in Brazil, and the consequences for the study. Thus, we analyzed the three identified logics that impose the secret abortion: legal, moral and relational, and subsequently treat the effects and methodological answers. In Article II analyzes the construction of the decision to abort. We note that to understand the construction of the decision we have to understand it as a process composed of distinct moments: the suspicion/confirmation of pregnancy, think about the outcome of pregnancy and decision making by the interruption, enabling the decision and the effect abortion. In Article III specifically analyze the experiences of abortions performed in private clinics. We found that there are different modalities and clinical care provided by the doctors at these clinics. Discussed, as well as the illegality of abortion exposes women to situations of complete vulnerability. The thesis concludes with some considerations related to the contributions of the research.