Les rapports de classe dans les approches ethnographiques de la sociologie brésilienne

This text discusses the contribution of recent studies about class relations in Brazil. In it, the author makes the point that ethnographic studies on this topic are rare, in spite of their obvious interest in terms of data and analytical perspectives. He shows this through a survey of texts about poor students at university, as well as by describing popular consumer practices and class relations within psychiatric establishments. These texts demonstrate in particular that class relations cannot be predicted a priori, since they depend upon the context of the interactions; economic, social and local situations; and mutual representations of the groups themselves