The Elusive Jeitinho
In Brazil, there is a unique way of doing things. It is known as the jeitinho. The jeitinho refers to the Brazilian art of cutting corners, bending rules, finding loopholes, making exceptions, improvising solutions and negotiating what is ‘non-negotiable.’
The jeitinho is a way of getting what you want or getting out of a tricky situation through wit, charm, improvisation or as the Brazilian anthropologist Roberta da Matta has famously proposed “knowing the right person.” Brazilians use the jeitinho when making room for one more person at the dinner table, getting off the bus when there is no bus stop or obtaining passports through despachantes, magical middlemen who cut through bureaucratic red tape with lightning speed.
The jeitinho, however, is not to be exclusively associated with illegality (i.e. bribing). Rather, it is an everyday technique that facilitates life and renders formal situations informal. It is simply a faster, more efficient and often more personable way of getting what you want. Understanding the practice of jeitinho is crucial for understanding how business, government and everyday life operates in Brazil.
In the following posts, I will explore the subtle power of the jeitinho.
