ABSTRACT
Everyday life masks the struggles of millions of Brazilians to earn enough to make ends meet. The coping strategies that the poor use are creative and diverse, but they do not always work. They include economic tactics to create and stretch income; political strategies (organizing, voting as a bloc, negotiating with politicians); economic strategies (exploiting the irregularity of work patterns, for example), and cultural strategies (adopting beliefs, symbols, and attitudes that govern behavior). Language can be a tool to sustain morale and to fight back: Afro-Brazilian cultists involved in xangô spiritism use vocabulary from their African heritage not only as a source of self-pride but to exclude nonpractitioners from their inner world. Humor also enters the picture, along with entrepreneurship. Within days of the revelations about Collor’s corruption, artisans were selling on the street little birdcages holding tiny dolls representing Collor and his henchman, P.C. Farias. White-garbed mães de santo in Salvador sold Brazilian flags draped with black ribbons for waving during the pro-impeachment parades.
