Between morals and politics: “economical housing” in Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

In the late 19th century, Brazilian elites opted for “economical house” as a solution to the lack of affordable and hygienic houses. “Economical houses” were individual buildings, isolated in the middle of a plot of land and, presumably, affordable for any working-class family. Based on the actions and speeches of those concerned with social housing at that time, I provide a “genealogy” of this category. I argue that the origin of “economical housing” lies at the intersection of two political “strategies”, which also refer to two different but complementary meanings of the word “economy”: one aimed at rationalizing housing production by optimizing its techniques; another at modelling working-class behaviors according to the Christian beliefs of the elites. So the genealogy of economical housing demands that we think both of the centrality of the economy in the elaboration of modern “political technologies” and of the economy as an “order of worth”.

Key words:
Social housing; Governmentality; Moralities; Economization