In today's Latin America, social policy is a battleground. At stake is not just poverty relief, but the very meaning of citizenship and whether transformation is still possible in times of austerity and conservative backlash. This book investigates the evolution of poverty reduction strategies in Brazil and Argentina over the past two decades, focusing on programmes like Bolsa Família and Asignación Universal por Hijo. Through a critical and comparative lens, it reveals how political agendas, institutional legacies, and economic crises have shaped--and undermined--social protection systems. It reveals the dilemmas faced by social policy in times of democratic erosion, economic crisis, and rising inequality across the Latin American region.