The sources of moral authority: Policy networks and structuring south-south cooperation

Abstract

This chapter has as a point of departure the enquiry into the drivers for Brazil’s engagement with South-South cooperation (SSC). Nonetheless, instead of taking SSC as a tool always already available for the foreign policy community, it enquires (i) into the process of manufacturing SSC as a foreign policy tool and, (ii) on its role in shaping the moral claims that Brazilian policy networks brought to the international arena while seeking a new status. The analysis is mainly on the “golden period” of Brazilian SSC from 2003 to 2014. During this decade, the Brazilian foreign policy community strove to change the perception the international community kept about Brazil. This process entailed establishing moral authority in some specific areas of international policymaking, particularly on issues like inequality, poverty, and hunger. During that period, Brazil started to be recognized as a kind of social policies powerhouse. Through a systematic bottom-up analysis, the chapter briefly presents the policy networks related to public health, food and nutrition security and agricultural innovation. These three sectors have played a germane role in shaping Brazil’s moral authority and its international standing as a champion for eradicating hunger, providing access to a universal health system and medicines and feeding the world’s growing population.