Vehicle auctions in Brazil: Political disputes and regulations in a market.

• Grant number: 22/05814-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: November 01, 2022
• End date: February 29, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Sociology - Other specific Sociologies
• Principal Investigator: Luana Dias Motta
• Grantee: Luiz Gustavo Simão Pereira
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 20/07160-7 - Global cars: a transnational urban research on vehicle informal economies (Europe, Africa and South America), AP.TEM

Abstract

The state of São Paulo concentrates almost a third of the approximately 58 million cars in Brazil. In this scenario, auctions become profitable and disputed markets, as they are essential for the sale, distribution and consumption of used vehicles not only in São Paulo, but also to other states and countries. However, the social sciences have paid little attention to the political, social and cultural dimensions of auctions, and most work on the subject focuses on the economic dimension. This project takes auctions as an empirical input to explore the interfaces between the social and power dynamics embedded in the regulation of legal and illegal vehicle markets. The general objective is to understand the political disputes in the last decade around the regulatory frameworks of auction activity in Brazil. It is important to highlight that the political disputes around the regulation of this market gain in complexity in this period, in view of the entry of foreign companies in this market that, until then, was predominantly controlled by Brazilian entrepreneurs. By taking into account the enormous economic power of vehicle auctions, the research aims to contribute to empirical studies on auctions and political disputes around market regulation. The fieldwork will be developed in three stages: I) collection and analysis of documents (newspaper news; draft laws; reports of public hearings etc.); II) field research with participant observation of the auction routine; and III) in-depth interviews with auctioneers and auction employees.