Cuidado, direito e Estado: entre a invisibilidade e a solidão - o trabalho de cuidado não remunerado das mulheres negras na periferia de Venda Nova

Abstract

This study analyzes the unpaid care work performed by Black women in the outskirts of Venda Nova, in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, from an intersectional, countercolonial, and legal-political perspective. It begins with the recognition that care constitutes a central element of social reproduction and the sustenance of life—historically rendered invisible, feminized, and racialized—the responsibility for which falls disproportionately on Black women. The objective of the research is to understand how the social organization of care, coupled with the fragility of public policies, impacts these women’s life plans, autonomy, and social participation, as well as to analyze the limits and potential of community “help” networks in sustaining daily life. The study adopts a qualitative approach, situated, exploratory, and critical in nature, with the complementary use of secondary quantitative data for contextualization and analytical triangulation. The research combines a literature and documentary review, analysis of national and municipal data, and field research conducted through conversation circles with women served by the CRAS Lagoa. The theoretical framework is grounded in Black feminism, particularly the work of Lélia Gonzalez and Beatriz Nascimento, as well as studies on social reproduction, care circuits, the care diamond, and countercolonial epistemologies. The findings show that, although care-related challenges are experienced by women across different social groups, they are profoundly exacerbated by the intersections of race, gender, class, geography, and unequal access to rights. We observe the systematic expropriation of women’s time, the interruption of educational and professional trajectories, physical and mental illness, precarious working conditions, and dependence on informal solidarity networks, which, although fundamental for survival, prove to be fragile, unstable, and insufficient to guarantee effective social protection. It is also evident that recent care policies, despite representing regulatory advances, face concrete limitations in their implementation within contexts marked by scarcity management and structural inequality. It is concluded that care constitutes a public, democratic, and legal issue, requiring cross-cutting, intersectoral policies committed to the redistribution of social responsibilities, to confronting structural racism, and to recognizing the right to care from an anti-racist perspective. This research contributes to strengthening the debate on social justice, substantive democracy, and the valorization of the lives historically responsible for sustaining society.