The space of educational inequalities in São Paulo and Recife

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper presents an empirical study on the social and educational gaps between Recife and São Paulo, cities characterized by fast urbanization and strongly unequal urban configurations. Based on the notion of social space and statistical data from the last Population Census (IBGE/ 2010), we present a study on the space of educational disparities in the two metropolises. The objective was to test the relevance of the notion of social space in the Brazilian context, identifying at once, the distribution of social groups and their educational investments. We argue that the notion of social space can integrate several other key concepts of Bourdieusian sociology. We mobilize a large set of variables captured simultaneously, bringing to light the differences within the two metropolises and between the cities. The study’s originality lies in starting from this wide range of objective indicators related to living conditions, associating it with the use of indicators likely to be perceived as “subjective.” As expected, the first axis strongly correlates with longevity, household income, and education level. The second axis is the result of the correlation between the possession of a high school diploma and the presence of greater public infrastructure. In Recife, this second axis concerns a few neighborhoods in the city. In São Paulo, however, the same correlation is observed with a much larger set of neighborhoods in intermediate social positions. It is also noticeable that Recife has a much larger number of regions in extreme poverty compared to São Paulo.