Between Norm and Cunning (The Brazilian Jeitinho): The Ontology of Cunning and Flexible Morality in Deep Brazil [Portuguese]

By Noah Blake

In Between Norm and Cunning: The Ontology of Cunning and Flexible Morality in Deep Brazil, Noah Blake offers a profound and nuanced exploration of the Brazilian jeitinho-not merely as a cultural peculiarity, but as a foundational social practice. The work examines how Brazilians, faced with entrenched structural inequalities and fluid institutional frameworks, have developed a form of moral plasticity that allows them to negotiate complex ethical landscapes. In these settings, formal legal structures often collide with personal obligations and pragmatic imperatives, revealing a distinctive capacity for navigating between order and improvisation. Blake's study is particularly ambitious in its objectives. First, it seeks to deconstruct the notion that the jeitinho is a simple deviation from established norms, recasting it instead as a sophisticated response to social conditions that perpetually require negotiation and adjustment. Second, it delves into the historical and institutional roots of this moral flexibility, demonstrating how it has been shaped over time by colonial hierarchies, economic disparities, and cultural syncretism. Finally, Blake underscores the resilience and ingenuity inherent in these practices, challenging reductive views that frame them as symptoms of moral decay or corruption. The book concludes that the jeitinho embodies a relational moral framework-one that favors situational ethics and contextual solutions over universalist principles. This logic is neither chaotic nor lawless; rather, it is an adaptive strategy that enables individuals to assert agency and maintain dignity in an environment characterized by institutional fragility and social inequality. Far from signaling cultural regression, this mode of moral reasoning serves as a testament to the enduring creativity and resourcefulness of Brazilian society.What if the Brazilian jeitinho wasn't just rule-bending, but a vital strategy for thriving in a tough world? Noah Blake's Between Norm and Cunning challenges the notion of the jeitinho as mere deviance. Instead, he unveils it as a creative, adaptive approach to navigating a society marked by inequality and shifting institutions. Blake traces this moral flexibility to Brazil's colonial past and cultural diversity, showing how these forces shaped a practice of resilience and resourcefulness. Far from reflecting decline, the jeitinho embodies the ingenuity needed to balance rigid formal structures with everyday realities. In framing the jeitinho as a relational ethical framework, Blake repositions it as a powerful social tool. It's not about breaking rules; it's about bending them in ways that uphold dignity, maintain agency, and foster survival in a challenging world.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: Portuguese
• ISBN: B0F4MN3JR6
• ISBN13: 9798319082077
• Release Date: April 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 78 Pages
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"