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This article aims to analyse the spatial and temporal evolution of multidimensional poverty in Brazil's North Region and its relationship with territorial, economic and population dynamics.

A multidimensional poverty index (MPI) was calculated using the Alkire-Foster method and a spatial econometric model was estimated. The data come from population censuses conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) for the years 1991, 2000 and 2010.

The results show a decrease in multidimensional poverty over the period analysed. However, they show this reduction occurred in a heterogeneous way in time and space, with emphasis on microregions in which, despite a reduction in the rate, the percentage of the population considered multidimensionally poor remained high during the 30 years of the study.

The quality of available data.

It is possible to point out that public policies focused on improving infrastructure in medium-sized locations tend to have two positive effects: first, making production and consumption more accessible and sustainable for local communities, given that currently the cost of transport and logistics are factors that hinder socioeconomic development; second, to reduce the pressure of demand that this population of small and medium-sized locations exerts on public services currently offered only in larger locations. Although the logic of concentrating most public services in the largest cities makes sense in terms of economic efficiency, the particularities of the northern region and the recognition of its environmental importance point to the need for incentives for more spatially distributed economic activity.

From the paper results, it is possible to think about more local public policies which are able to improve people's lifes without to damage the environment.

This is the first study on multidimensional poverty that covers the entire North region of Brazil (Amazon region) and that contemplates both the temporal and spatial dynamics of poverty.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-11-2021-0699.

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.