Territory, finance and circuits of the urban economy: investigating the capillarity of the organizations of the Jogo do Bicho in Arapiraca (AL)

Author(s)

Leonardo Sena do Carmo

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2020-12-18

Examining board members

Fabio Betioli Contel; Antonio Alfredo Teles de Carvalho; Marina Regitz Montenegro; Edilson Luis de Oliveira

• Advisor: Fabio Betioli Contel

Abstract

The \"Jogo do Bicho\" is an activity that appeared in Brazil at the end of the 19th century and is one of the most striking elements of Brazilian popular culture. In this way, even if classified as an illegal activity since 1941 by art. 58 of Decree-Law n. 3,688, the activity still gained immense popularity in Brazilian society, especially because of the symbolism surrounding this type of lottery. Currently, Jogo do Bicho is one of the most financially successful Brazilian lotteries in the country (moving around R$ 12 billion/year), and possibly the largest illegal lottery game in the world (FREIRE, 2017), being offered by several organizations throughout Brazil. In this sense, the present work attemped to understand the use of the territory performed by the organizations of Jogo do Bicho, in order to identify five of its main elements: a) its forms of organization; b) the evolution of the techniques used; c) the legal norms that regulate it (especially the legal prohibition since 1941); d) its degree of capitalization; and e) its strategies of location in urban space. To achieve this goal, the theory of the two circuits of urban economy, developed by Milton Santos in the 1970s, which allows a clear interpretation of the above elements, under a geographical bias, proved to be quite operational. The research shows that the Jogo do Bicho compose an activity of the upper marginal circuit, taking into account all the organizational complexity that the lottery has recently acquired. As an empirical cutting of the research, we defined the analysis of three organizations of Jogo do Bicho that operate in the city of Arapiraca (AL): the Casa da Fortuna, Portas da Sorte and A $orte. From the field research in the city of Arapiraca, it was possible to identify that Jogo do Bicho is a widely spread activity in the urban space of the city, and that the use of the territory by the organizations also reaches other cities in the state of Alagoas. The activity has seen a greater technification, with the adoption of modern digital devices, which has provided greater agility in its practice. Therefore, it was noted that, besides the traditional \"points\" of sale, the lottery is combined with other traditional activities of service and commerce in the lower circuit of the urban economy, being present even in the most opaque areas of the city. It was also found that the Jogo do Bicho is an important activity for economic dynamism of the cities where it develops. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 17/22054-6 - Territory, finance and circuits of the urban economy: investigating the capillarity of the organizations of the Jogo do Bicho in Arapiraca (al)
• Grantee: Leonardo Sena Do Carmo
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master