PUBLIC ARENAS AND THE ENGINEERING OF SCARCITY: TERRITORIAL GOVERNANCE AND "MANUFACTURED POVERTY" IN FLORIANÓPOLIS, SC

Abstract

This article analyzes the mobilization of collective action regarding Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, focusing on the Costeira do Pirajubaé neighborhood. Based on Josué de Castro's concept of the "conspiracy of silence" and Milton Santos' theory of the unequal production of space, the research investigates how local governance produces "manufactured poverty" and an "engineering of scarcity." The qualitative and exploratory methodology combined Oral History and participant observation with an institutional analysis of regulatory instruments, such as Municipal Decree No. 28,550/2025 ("Marmita Legal") and the 2025 Food Cities Strategy Diagnosis. The results demonstrate that Food and Nutrition Insecurity (FNI) is exacerbated by excluding topography and state failure in providing public facilities, shifting the responsibility for survival onto the "domestic engineering" of peripheral women. The study concludes that municipal governance prioritizes control and surveillance mechanisms over spatial justice, reaffirming the need for decentralized FNS policies and the recognition of the territory as a central axis of citizenship.