"Caught in the Middle! Wealth Inequality and Conflict over Redistribution".

A vast literature documents that wealth inequality has risen throughout advanced democracies, especially the accumulation of wealth among the rich. Yet, instead of increasing wealth redistribution, governments have done the seemingly opposite. Key to understanding why democratic governments do not increase wealth redistribution in times of rising inequalities is to shed light on the public's preferences. In this paper, we map the public's redistributive preferences in fourteen countries based on new survey data. We show that traditional socioeconomic cleavages in preferences for wealth redistribution are undermined by diverging mobility expectations. People who expect to climb up the wealth distribution, mostly lower wealth groups, are less supportive of redistribution than people with high stakes of major wealth losses, mainly upper wealth groups. We show that future expectations among the rich and the poor have a highly moderating role for the class conflict over wealth redistribution. Moreover, the middle class, the decisive group in democracies, is highly unresponsive to future prospects. The findings suggest that the middle class does not have much to lose or to win, and therefore, wealth redistribution is of low salience among this group.

Lockdowns and Physical Activities: Sports in the Time of COVID.

As aging causes challenges in several countries globally, more and more people are suffering from bad health conditions. Nowadays, COVID-19 causes many problems-and one of the root causes of these problems is the isolation of people from each other. The aim of our article is to investigate the effects of COVID-19 on people's physical activity. Physical activity is strongly correlated with health status and health preservation is very important to minimize the negative effects of the pandemic. In order to investigate this topic, we prepared an extended literature review, citing the most important sources of COVID-related health-preservation issues. Our results showed that the negative economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic have caused a decrease in physical activities in several cases. A reduction in possible physical activities has a potential negative effect on the life expectancies of elderly people. In order to underline the importance of physical activities, we prepared an extended literature review, aiming to summarize the available knowledge related to COVID-19. As a conclusion we recommend to strengthen, maintain, and develop available sporting possibilities for people. The most important of these recommendations is the development of physical activities that are available for free.

Capitalismo dependente, Estado e autoritarismo no Brasil / Dependent Capitalism, State and Authoritarianism in Brazil

Como resultado de pesquisas sobre a articulação, no Brasil atual, entre Estado, capitalismo dependente e nova direita, este texto enfatiza questões estruturantes e conjunturais das peculiaridades do capitalismo no País, com o objetivo de discutir as relações entre Estado, classes sociais, autocracia burguesa, democracia restrita, nova direita e autoritarismo. Seguindo a perspectiva materialista histórica dialética e referenciado em revisão de literatura especializada, o texto estrutura-se e apresenta como resultados: o entendimento do Estado capitalista como relação social contraditória moldada pelas lutas de classe, suas particularidades no Brasil sob as bases do capitalismo dependente; a heteronomia, padrão compósito de hegemonia burguesa e os limites da democracia no Brasil, como eixos estruturantes e dinâmicos da especificidade brasileira; e o autoritarismo como produto da corrente ideológica da nova direita, com tendência de radicalização, presente nas ações políticas nacionais que seguem características do Ur-fascismo.

As a result of research on the articulation, in the current Brazil, between State, dependent capitalism and new right, this text emphasizes structural and conjunctural questions of the peculiarities of capitalism in the Country, with the objective of discussing the relations between State, social classes, bourgeois autocracy, restricted democracy, New Right and authoritarianism. Following the dialectical historical materialist perspective and referenced in a specialized literature review, the text is structured and presents as results: the understanding of the capitalist state as a contradictory social relationship shaped by class struggles, its particularities in Brazil under the bases of dependent capitalism; heteronomy, a composite pattern of bourgeois hegemony and the limits of democracy in Brazil, as structural and dynamic axes of Brazilian specificity; and authoritarianism as a product of the ideological current of the New Right, with a tendency to radicalization, present in national political actions that follow characteristics of Ur-fascism.

Collective Strategy Condensation: When Envy Splits Societies.

Human societies are characterized by three constituent features, besides others. (A) Options, as for jobs and societal positions, differ with respect to their associated monetary and non-monetary payoffs. (B) Competition leads to reduced payoffs when individuals compete for the same option as others. (C) People care about how they are doing relatively to others. The latter trait -the propensity to compare one's own success with that of others- expresses itself as envy. It is shown that the combination of (A)-(C) leads to spontaneous class stratification. Societies of agents split endogenously into two social classes, an upper and a lower class, when envy becomes relevant. A comprehensive analysis of the Nash equilibria characterizing a basic reference game is presented. Class separation is due to the condensation of the strategies of lower-class agents, which play an identical mixed strategy. Upper-class agents do not condense, following individualist pure strategies. The model and results are size-consistent, holding for arbitrary large numbers of agents and options. Analytic results are confirmed by extensive numerical simulations. An analogy to interacting confined classical particles is discussed.

Occupational Health Inequalities by Issues on Gender and Social Class in Labor Market: Absenteeism and Presenteeism Across 26 OECD Countries.

Background: This study aimed to examine the health disparities among working populations of 26 OECD countries through absenteeism and presenteeism, and to explain the combined effects of gender, work-life imbalance, occupational class, and labor market gender inequality factors on the occurrence of them. Methods: We investigated nested data on 30,131 wage workers across 26 OECD countries. At the country level, macro indicators representing labor market gender inequality were collected from OECD database. Multi-level logistic analysis was used to analyze the main and interacting effects of explanatory variables on absenteeism and presenteeism. Results: This study revealed a negative relationship between gender inequalities in the labor market and the incidence of absenteeism and presenteeism. After controlling for relevant individual- and country-level factors, the gender wage gap was associated with a decrease in absenteeism and presenteeism but the gender gap in the employment rate had a similar effect only on presenteeism. In addition, these country-level factors worked differently for the risk of absenteeism and presenteeism among groups of workers by gender, level of work-life imbalance, employment condition, and occupational class. Conclusion: Workers in societies with separate gender roles and structural inequalities in the labor market reported lower levels of absenteeism and presenteeism, which was explained by an association between the double burden of work and family life and occupational health. In other respects, however, gender egalitarian policies may play an essential role in preventing health disadvantages for unfavorable working groups of women, non-permanent contract and manual job.

Impact of socioeconomic status on coronary artery calcification.

Background Low socioeconomic status is associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease, but few studies have investigated the potential link between living in an area with a low versus a high socioeconomic status and coronary artery calcification, a marker of subclinical coronary artery disease. Design The design of this study was a cross-sectional study. Methods We evaluated 1067 participants with no history of coronary artery disease from the pilot phase of the Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study (SCAPIS). Men and women aged 50-64 years were recruited from three high-socioeconomic status ( n = 541) and three low-socioeconomic status ( n = 526) areas in the city of Gothenburg (550,000 inhabitants). The coronary artery calcification score was assessed with the Agatston method using computed tomography, with individuals classified into either no coronary calcification ( n = 625; mean age, 57 years) or any coronary artery calcification ( n = 442; mean age, 59 years (men, 68.5%)). Results Coronary artery calcification was present in 244 (46.3%) and 198 (36.6%) individuals from the low- and high-socioeconomic status areas, respectively. Participants from the low-socioeconomic status areas had a significantly higher risk factor burden. In a multivariable logistic regression model with adjustment for age, sex and cardiovascular risk factors, the odds for coronary artery calcification were not significantly higher among persons living in low-socioeconomic status areas (odds ratio = 1.18, 95% confidence interval = 0.87-1.60). Conclusion In this relatively small cross-sectional study, we observed an association between living in a low-socioeconomic status area and coronary artery calcification. However, this was mostly explained by higher levels of cardiovascular disease risk factors, indicating that the effect of socioeconomic status on the atherosclerotic process works through an increased burden of cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Posição social de adolescentes e a crença no mundo justo / Adolescents' social position and the belief in a just world / Posición social de adolescentes y la creencia en el mundo justo

A crença no mundo justo geral é um modo de entender a realidade segundo o qual as relações humanas são justas. O trabalho foi uma pesquisa exploratória que investigou a adesão de 736 estudantes de ensino médio de Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, à crença no mundo justo geral. Os participantes responderam a uma versão adaptada da Escala Global de Crenças no Mundo Justo. Foram calculadas estatísticas descritivas referentes às proporções de resposta globais e de posições sociais que combinavam renda familiar e escolaridade materna. Os resultados indicaram que os estudantes tendem a discordar da existência de um mundo justo geral, à exceção de um indicador que estabelece que o esforço é recompensado, o que foi interpretado como um princípio meritocrático que possivelmente orienta uma crença no mundo justo pessoal. Os participantes de posições sociais desfavoráveis tenderam a aderir mais à crença no mundo justo, o que pode se mostrar como um modo de enfrentar os desafios da realidade

The general belief in a just world is a way of understanding reality according to which human relations are fair. The research was an exploratory study that investigated the support of 736 secondary school students from Uberlandia, Brazil, to the general belief in a just world. Participants completed an adapted version of the Global Belief in a Just World Scale. Descriptive statistics relative to the global response proportions and to social positions that combined family income and mother schooling were calculated. Results indicated that students tend to disagree with the existence of a general just world, with the exception of an indicator that states that effort is rewarded, which was interpreted as a meritocratic principle that possibly guides a personal belief in a just world. Participants from unfavorable social positions tended to support the belief in a just world more, which might be a way of coping the challenges of reality

La creencia en el mundo justo general es un modo de entender la realidad según la cual las relaciones humanas son justas. El trabajo fue un estudio exploratorio que investigó la adhesión de 736 estudiantes de secundaria de Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brasil, a la creencia en el mundo justo general. Los participantes respondieron a una versión adaptada de la Escala Global de Creencias en el Mundo Justo. Se calcularon estadísticas descriptivas referentes a las proporciones de respuestas globales y de posiciones sociales que combinaban ingresos familiares y escolaridad materna. Los resultados indicaron que los estudiantes tienden a discrepar de la existencia de un mundo justo general, a excepción de un indicador que establece que el esfuerzo es recompensado, lo que fue interpretado como un principio meritocrático que posiblemente orienta una creencia en el mundo justo personal. Los participantes de posiciones sociales desfavorables tienden a adherirse más a la creencia en el mundo justo, lo que puede mostrarse como un modo de enfrentar los desafíos da realidad

Resiliência e velhice: um estudo comparativo entre idosos de diferentes classes sociais / Resilience and aging: a comparative study among elderly people of different social classes / Resiliencia y vejez: un estudio entre personas mayores de diferentes clases sociales

O crescimento no número de idosos no Brasil e no mundo é uma realidade nas estatísticas sociodemográficas. Tal fator é resultado do avanço no acesso aos serviços sociossanitários, bem como ao tratamento de algumas doenças que têm propiciado maior longevidade e esperança de vida. Desse modo, a resiliência é um constructo psicossocial importante que possibilita enfrentamento das adversidades na velhice. A presente investigação teve como objetivos principais estudar e comparar os níveis de resiliência entre idosos de diferentes classes sociais (baixa renda e alta renda). A amostra foi composta por 20 idosos, entre eles, homens e mulheres, de ambas as classes sociais, com idades que variam de 61 a 84 anos (M=67, 75 DP= 6,17). No contato com os participantes, foram utilizados instrumentos como questionários sociodemográficos e entrevistas semiestruturadas. Para a análise da entrevista semiestruturada, foi empregada a análise de conteúdo de Bardin. A partir dos dados desta pesquisa, pode-se verificar que os idosos de ambos os grupos relataram dificuldades decorrentes do período da velhice, porém tanto o de nível social baixo como o de alto estão munidos de ideias e recursos para superar os empecilhos que a vida apresenta. Espera-se que os dados da presente pesquisa possam subsidiar novas investigações, com o escopo de somar dados inovadores, referentes à resiliência na velhice com idosos de diferentes classes sociais, considerando-se a escassez de publicações relacionadas a esse tema e as limitações deste estudo.

The growth in the number of elderly people in Brazil and around the world is a reality in socio-demographic statistics. This factor is a result of advances for the access to health services, as well as the treatment of some diseases that has provided greater longevity and life expectancy. Thus, resilience is an important psychosocial construct that enables the facing of adversities in the old age. This research aimed to study and compare the levels of resilience among elderly people of different social classes (low-income and high-income). The sample consisted of 20 elders, including men and women of both classes with ages ranging 61-84 years (M = 67, 75 SD = 6.17). In the contact with the participants, instruments were used, such as sociodemographic questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. For the analysis of semi-structured interview, Bardin content analysis was used. From the data of this research, it could be noticed that the elderly of both groups reported difficulties arising from the old age period, but the two are provided with ideas and resources to overcome the obstacles that life presents. It is expected that the survey data can support new researches, with the aim of adding innovative data regarding resilience in old age, with older people from different social classes, considering the scarcity of publications related to this topic and the limitations of this study.

El aumento en el número de personas mayores en Brasil y en el mundo entero es una realidad en las estadísticas socio-demográficas. Este factor es el resultado de los avances en el acceso a los servicios sociales y sanitarios, así como el tratamiento de algunas enfermedades que ha proporcionado una mayor longevidad y la esperanza de vida. Por lo tanto, la capacidad de recuperación es un importante constructo psicosocial que permite enfrentan a las adversidades en la vejez. Esta investigación tuvo como objetivo estudiar y comparar los niveles de resiliencia entre las personas mayores de diferentes clases sociales (de bajos y altos ingresos). La muestra está formada por 20 personas de edad avanzada, incluyendo hombres y mujeres de ambas clases con edades entre 61-84 años (M = 67.75; DT = 6,17). En contacto con los participantes, instrumentos fueron utilizados como cuestionarios sociodemográficos y entrevistas semiestructuradas. Para el análisis de la entrevista semiestructurada se utilizó para el análisis de contenido de Bardin. A partir de los datos de esta investigación, se puede observar que los ancianos de ambos grupos informaron de las dificultades derivadas de período de la vejez, pero tanto el bajo nivel social como de alto, están provistos de ideas y recursos para superar los obstáculos que la vida presenta. Se espera que los datosde la encuesta pueden apoyar esta nueva investigación, con el objetivo de añadir innovadora capacidad de recuperación de datos en la vejez con las personas mayores de diferentes clases sociales, teniendo en cuenta la escasez de publicaciones relacionadas con este tema y las limitaciones de este estudio.

Resiliência e Velhice: um estudo comparativo entre idosos de diferentes níveis socioeconômicos / Resilience and Old Age: a comparative study among elderly people of different socioeconomic levels / Resiliencia y Vejez: un estudio entre personas mayores de diferentes niveles socioeconómicos

A presente investigação teve como objetivo principal estudar e comparar os níveis de resiliência entre idosos de diferentes classes sociais (baixa renda e alta renda). Participaram 20 idosos, com idades que variam de 61 a 84 anos (M=67, 75 DP= 6,17). A partir da entrevista semiestruturada, utilizou-se a análise de conteúdo de Bardin. Os idosos de ambos os grupos relataram dificuldades decorrentes do período da velhice e estão munidos de ideias e recursos para superar os empecilhos que a vida apresenta.

The present study had as main objective to study and compare the levels of resilience between elderly people of different social classes (low income and high income). Twenty elderly individuals, ranging in age from 61 to 84 years (M = 67, 75 SD = 6.17) participated. From the semi-structured interview, we used Bardin's content analysis. The elderly in both groups reported difficulties arising from the old age and are equipped with ideas and resources to overcome the obstacles that life presents.

Esta investigación tuvo como objetivo estudiar y comparar los niveles de resiliencia entre las personas mayores de diferentes clases sociales (de bajos y altos ingresos). Participaron 20 personas mayores, de edades entre 61-84 años (M = 67, DT = 6.17 75). De la entrevista semiestructurada se utilizó el análisis de contenido de Bardin. Ancianos de ambos grupos informaron de las dificultades derivadas de período de la vejez y están provistos de ideas y recursos para superar los obstáculos que la vida presenta.

Entre o nacional e o neonacional-desenvolvimentismo: poder político e classes sociais no Brasil contemporâneo / Between the national and the neo‑national developmentalism: political power and social classes in contemporary Brazil

Diversos cientistas sociais que se dedicam à difícil tarefa de estudar o governo Lula da Silva têm retomado a reflexão sobre o período desenvolvimentista brasileiro. Neste artigo, examinamos as relações entre poder político, regime político e política de Estado durante: 1) o apogeu e crise final do nacional‑desenvolvimentismo; 2) o neonacional‑desenvolvimentismo. Nosso objetivo é contribuir para a análise de dois importantes momentos do Brasil contemporâneo.

Several social scientists engaged in the difficult task of studying Lula da Silva's government have resumed the reflection on Brazilian developmentalist period. In this article, we examine the relationships among political power, political regime and State policy during: 1) the rise and final crisis of national developmentalism; 2) the neo‑national developmentalism. Our purpose is to contribute to the analysis of two important moments of contemporary Brazil.

Prevalência e fatores de risco da infecção humana por Toxocara canis em Salvador, Estado da Bahia / Prevalence and risk factors of human infection by Toxocara canis in Salvador, State of Bahia, Brazil

INTRODUÇÃO: Larva migrans visceral é causada por Toxocara sp e nunca foi estudada na Bahia. Neste trabalho, investigou-se a prevalência e fatores de risco de infecção por Toxocara canis, em indivíduos de Salvador. MÉTODOS: Trezentos e trinta e oito indivíduos foram investigados para presença de anticorpos IgG séricos anti-T. canis. RESULTADOS: IgG anti-T. canis foi mais alta em indivíduos de classe social baixa com maior contato com cães e gatos, indicando que estas variáveis são fatores de risco para esta infecção. CONCLUSÕES: A prevalência de infecção por T. canis foi alta. Os fatores de risco desta infecção encontrados estão de acordo com a literatura.

INTRODUCTION: Larva migrans visceral is caused by Toxocara sp and has never been studied in Bahia. This work investigated the prevalence and risk factors for infection by Toxocara canis in individuals from Salvador, State of Bahia. METHODS: Three hundred and thirty-eight individuals were investigated for the presence of serum IgG anti-T. canis. RESULTS: IgG anti-T. canis was higher in individuals from lower social classes who had more contact with dogs and cats, indicating that these variables are factors risk for this infection. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of T. canis infection was high. The risk factors for this infection identified are in agreement with in the literature.