![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Drugs-and-Democracy.jpg\" "\\"Drugs")
<\/a><\/p>\nDrugs and Democracy in Rio de Janeiro<\/em>\u00a0by Enrique Desmond Arias<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Drugs and Democracy in Rio de Janeiro<\/em> is a study conducted over nine years documenting the emergence of urban violence in Rio. Arias studied the uniquely complex relationships between the state, drug trafficking gangs, and civil leaders to demonstrate how criminal networks became so deeply embedded in society. The book includes case studies of Tubar\u00e3o, Santa Ana and Vig\u00e1rio Geral<\/a> employing participant observation and interview research. These case studies illustrate his general theory of how violent actors in Brazil and more generally South America are closely linked to political systems and provide a large challenge for the development of democratic governance.<\/p>\n Interestingly, this book provides fresh perspectives on understanding how violence develops, arguing that instead of the traditional conception of criminals as isolated deviant factions, collaboration between criminal, civic and state actors are regular and fundamental to the existence of criminal groups. The cross-institutional ties allow criminals to take on illegal activities with minimal opposition, allow politicians to secure essential favela votes, and enable residents to access essential services. For those interested in network theory, criminology and sociology this is an essential read.<\/p>\n Available in English \u2013 Published in 2006 by University of North Carolina Press<\/em><\/p>\n A Poverty of Rights<\/em> is an excellent investigation of the period between 1930 and 1964, chiefly during the rule of President Get\u00falio Vargas<\/a>,\u00a0when the legal and institutional basis for Brazilian citizenship arose. Divided into four parts on urban planning and regulatory law, labor and social welfare laws, criminal justice, and property rights, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the legal \u2018basis\u2019 of poverty.<\/p>\n Fisher looks in detail at the effects of remodeling and beautification attempts on urban geography, demographic factors such as mass migration from the northeast of Brazil and explanations as to why poor citizens were obliged to \u201ccreate their own urban world in the suburbs, swamps, hills, and backyards of the civilized city.\u201d<\/p>\n Under Vargas, law and citizenship dramatically extended their range and in some senses foreshadowed political, economic and civil rights for all. Yet, the continuing illegality of favelas deprived residents of any ability to claim their rights and made vulnerability and dependence chronic features of Carioca poverty. The citizenship offered to the poor in illegal settlements was \u201ccurtailed by laws and processes that outlawed critical aspects of their daily existence, clashed with less formal systems of value and practice, or required material and bureaucratic resources that most poor people could not lay hands on.\u201d<\/p>\n Fischer argues that the informality of the poor allowed Rio’s elite society to function and thrive. Informal settlements saved the city from devoting scant resources to the poor, cut labor and tax bills and enabled politicians to trade social development programs for votes. For Fischer, the ongoing vulnerability of the poor became a source of power that is still critical to networks of profit and political power today. Reading this book will give the reader an understanding of the Vargas period, the urban history of Rio and the broader interactions between law, rights and informality, through today.<\/p>\n Available in English \u2013 Published in 2008 by Stanford University Press<\/em><\/p>\n Goldstein\u2019s ethnography, an intimate portrait of violence, suffering and humor amongst women in the Felicidade Eterna favela, is both informative and a delight to read. Laughter Out of Place<\/em> is based around the stories told by a domestic worker and resident–the incredibly charismatic Gl\u00f3ria. Through Gl\u00f3ria we are introduced to the lives and struggles of her entourage of children, children\u2019s partners, boyfriends and friends. Gl\u00f3ria\u00a0herself describes her home as a \u201ca revolving door of extended family through which…blood and fictive kin and the hungry can find shelter and be informally adopted and cared for.\u201d<\/p>\n Based on over a decade of fieldwork, the book focuses on the creative responses\u2013absurdist and black humor\u2013that individuals use to cope with daily conditions of humiliation and despair. One particularly poignant part of the ethnography recounts Gl\u00f3ria\u2019s chance encounter with the father of her eldest son Pedro Paulo. Pedro had been a member of the Comando Vermelho drug faction<\/a> and was killed in a shoot-out with police in Rocinha<\/a>. Gl\u00f3ria explains, laughing, that when she told her ex-partner about their son\u2019s death he began weeping. She cannot believe that Pedro\u2019s father, who hadn\u2019t contributed in any way to raising their son, can be experiencing any kind of grief for the death of his son who he treated like a stranger. The anecdote offers a glimpse into the difficulties faced by women in favelas: the politics of sexuality, providing for many children on a single salary, and managing a large family.<\/p>\n This detailed ethnography reveals both the difficulties of living in a favela and the dignity and resilience of inhabitants. With chapters focusing on class, race and domestic worker\/employee relations this is a good introduction for students and anybody seeking an intimate, and unexpectedly funny, account of daily life in the favela.<\/p>\n Available in English \u2013 Published in 2003 by University of California Press<\/em><\/p>\n Janice Perlman\u2019s first book The Myth of Marginality<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(1979) has long been considered an essential text for anybody hoping to understand the complexities of poverty in Rio de Janeiro. Her most recent book Favela: Four Decades of Living on the Edge in Rio de Janeiro<\/em> revisits the communities studied in her first book, analyzing how the last 30 years have changed residents\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n One main advantage of Perlman\u2019s longitudinal study it that it demonstrates how urban policy has affected the lives of favela residents in the long-term, taking into account the perspectives of children and grandchildren. Perlman revisits those evicted from Catacumba in 1970 to public housing complexes in Nova Bras\u00edlia in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o<\/a> and those in Duque de Caixas in the Baixada Fluminense<\/a>.<\/p>\n The book flits between popular social science and academic styles and includes statistical analysis of data collected in questionnaires to support Perlman\u2019s research conclusions. The book attempts to explain how the \u2018poverty trap\u2019 operates, showing that despite the existence of some social mobility and increasing education, the stigma that remains attached to favelas and their residents still prevents upward mobility, even for the most hardworking and talented. The work includes interviews with study participants, and an examination of related changes including growth in the drug trade<\/a>, expansion of education<\/a>, gentrification<\/a>, uneven growth and employment. \u201cWhatever generalization you make about favelas can be contradicted by a counter-example. If you show their vibrant side, you risk romanticizing poverty. If you dwell on the violent side, you obscure their vitality and you risk propagating wrong-minded stereotypes and stigma that residents battle every day. Everything in a favela contains its opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n Available in English \u2013 Published in 2010 by Oxford University Press<\/em><\/p>\n For anybody seeking to understand more about Rio\u2019s development at the end of the Military Dictatorship, Hard Times<\/em> provides an excellent history of the period from the late 1970s onwards in which favelas were consolidated, residents were calling for re-democratization and changed seemed inevitable.<\/p>\n The book then examines why reforms failed to meet expectations, focusing on the development of schools, the growth of the drugs trade and the links between neighborhood associations and government. A more detailed book review was recently published on RioOnWatch<\/em>\u00a0and is available\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Available in English \u2013 Published in 2014 by Duke University Press<\/em><\/p>\n Culture is our Weapon: Making Music and Changing Lives in Rio de Janeiro<\/em> by Damian Platt and Patrick Neate<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Available in English – Published by Penguin in 2010\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Understanding Sociabilities: Identity, Culture and Resistance in Rio de Janeiro\u2019s Favelas\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>by Sandra Jovchelovitch and Jacqueline Priego-Hern\u00e1ndez<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n This book was written with experience gained by a pioneering research team comprising of members at LSE, UNESCO Brazil, Ita\u00fa Social, Ita\u00fa Cultural, AfroReggae and the Central Unica das Favelas (CUFA). Understanding Sociabilites<\/em> takes a social psychology approach to explore how favela residents have built such a strong social fabric despite the difficulties presented by favela life. Interviews with leaders of over 100 social development projects are analyzed alongside opinions of specialists and observers to try and piece together an understanding of the rich social life of favelas. A more detailed outline of the study and launch event can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Available in both English and Portuguese online: free download from UNESCO<\/a>![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Poverty-of-Rights.jpg\" "\\"A")
<\/a>A Poverty of Rights<\/em>\u00a0by Brodwyn Fisher<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/LAughter-Out-of-Place-200x300.jpg\" "\\"Laughter")
<\/a>Laughter Out of Place: Race, Class, Violence, and Sexuality in a Rio Shantytown<\/em> by Donna Goldstein<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Favela](\"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/favela_janice_perlman-198x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Favela: Four Decades of Living on the Edge in Rio de Janeiro<\/em> by Janice Perlman<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nPerlman\u2019s groundbreaking study demonstrates the difficulty of studying, understanding and writing about favelas. In her own words:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/bryan-mcann-hard-times.jpg\" "\\"Hard")
<\/a>Hard Times in the Marvellous City: From Dictatorship to Democracy in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro<\/em> by Bryan McCann<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/culture-weapon.jpg\" "\\"Culture")
<\/a>This book \u00a0tells the story of the work of the AfroReggae<\/a> cultural group, established in 1993 that seek to divert favela youth away from violence and involvement in drug trafficking, starting with a community newspaper and cultural events in the Vig\u00e1rio Geral favela. AfroReggae has provided the opportunity to get involved in music, to promote black culture and with international tours, records deals, blocos in the center of Rio during carnival and a feature film Favela Rising<\/em><\/a>, it provides a compelling portrait of the possibilities of resistance and empowerment through culture in Rio’s favelas.<\/p>\n
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