Negotiated Legality and Political Work – The Social Constructions of the Legal Environment around Breastfeeding in Brazil

Abstract

This research discusses how the legal environment around breastfeeding had been constructed in Brazil starting at the XX century: from the time Europeans arrived in the country, the breastfeeding was being abandoned, as it started to be seen as a practice of small nutritional and affective value, going through moments when the food industry was seen as the one able to solve more effectively the nutritional needs of babies and also of convenience for mothers. However, in the decade of 1970, a strong social movement started proposing the rescue of (natural) breastfeeding. This movement decisively marks the country history around breastfeeding, with impacts in the social and regulation aspects. In this sense, the paper discusses how interested social actors played the political work process, articulating and using their social skills in order to influence the social construction of the legal environment around breastfeeding and how the negotiated legality is set, the process where actors interpret and signify the laws in force, giving them (or not) social validity.