On measuring social tensions: with applications to Brazil

There are a number of different types of social tensions that can generate social unrest. Starting from standard inequality and poverty concerns to the ones related to temporal fluctuations in living standards including both sistemic and idiosyncratic sources of risk. These social tensions may also include social groups immobility, polarization and middle class related considerations. This paper provides a common methodology to model different sources of social tensions and applies it to the recent Brazilian experience.