In the mid-20th century, the dimension of the sensitive constituted the main hallmark of discourse about poverty, whether in literature, essays, or scientific reports from specialized institutions in planning and social research. This enduring nature of reflections was fostered, among other factors, by the emergence of organizations committed to producing a canonical meaning for the reality of poverty in the Brazilian Northeast. In this article, we analyze how the Superintendence for the Development of the Northeast - Sudene - established itself as efforts towards the construction and deepening of this sensitivity towards poverty.