{"id":46597,"date":"2018-09-10T10:35:51","date_gmt":"2018-09-10T13:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=46597"},"modified":"2023-10-30T14:08:24","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T17:08:24","slug":"not-everyone-has-a-price-part-6-conclusion-vila-autodromo-in-the-context-of-rios-olympic-evictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=46597","title":{"rendered":"Not Everyone Has a Price, Part 6: Conclusion\u2014Vila Aut\u00f3dromo in the Context of Rio’s Olympic Evictions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

This is the final article in a\u00a0six-part series<\/a>\u00a0that comprises the book chapter entitled \u201cNot Everyone Has a Price: How the Small Favela of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s Fight Opened a Path to Olympic Resistance\u201d recounting the story of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s struggle. Written by Theresa Williamson, executive director of\u00a0Catalytic Communities<\/a>,* the chapter is part of the book \u2018Rio 2016: Olympic Myths, Hard Realities<\/a>‘<\/em>\u00a0edited by economist\u00a0Andrew Zimbalist<\/a>. To read our review of \u2018Rio 2016,\u2019 click\u00a0here<\/a>. RioOnWatch would like to thank Brookings Press for providing the permission to republish the chapter here in its entirety. Read the full chapter<\/a>, from the beginning, here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a> represents just one of dozens of communities that suffered forced evictions in the lead-up to the 2016 Olympic Games<\/a>. In all, nearly 80,000 people were removed<\/a>. Two to three thousand of these were from Vila Aut\u00f3dromo. By some estimates more people were evicted in the pre-Olympics years in Rio<\/a> than in both previous Rio administrations associated with evictions combined: those of Francisco Pereira Passos<\/a> in the first decade of the 1900s and Carlos Lacerda<\/a> in the 1960s.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Olympic Games offered the perfect pretext for eviction. Over the previous century favela residents had acquired basic land rights, and their communities were being slowly upgraded under the growing conclusion that this was the only way to justly integrate them. Opportunities for mass eviction would no longer be justifiable\u2014that is, until the Olympics deadline provided a state of exception.1<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0The city\u2019s population yearned for investment. There was a broad assumption that municipal decisions were being well made in the public interest. And there were few checks to make sure they were.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So as city workers pulled up at favelas from Recreio II<\/a> to Metr\u00f4<\/a>, Manguinhos<\/a> to Harmonia<\/a>, Tanque<\/a> to Restinga<\/a>, few residents resisted. Most did not know they had any rights to claim, often struggling to make ends meet from multiple jobs or hampered by little education. Twenty-six percent of evictees during this period were in and near the rapidly expanding upper-class Barra da Tijuca<\/a> region, despite this region only housing 12 percent<\/a> of the city\u2019s favela residents. Evictees were generally bused to distant housing projects in the extreme West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, in neighborhoods like Cosmos<\/a> and Santa Cruz<\/a>, two hours from employment opportunities and now at the mercy of vigilante cop mafias, known in Rio as milicias<\/em>. In other cases, the government offered rent subsidies of R$400 per household (about $120) per month, insufficient to rent a favela home in most of Rio de Janeiro.<\/span><\/p>\n

Vila Aut\u00f3dromo’s strategy relied on seven keys to successful resistance: <\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The community\u2019s relative unity<\/strong> in its commitment to stay;<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Access to information<\/strong>;<\/li>\n
  3. Legal defense<\/strong>;<\/li>\n
  4. Diverse and resolute leadership<\/strong>;<\/li>\n
  5. Broad networks<\/strong> of support ranging from peer communities to technical partners;<\/li>\n
  6. Creative responses<\/strong> such as the Popular Plan and Evictions Museum; and<\/li>\n
  7. Early and ongoing documentation and visibility<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    This broader context helps put Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s remarkable resistance into perspective. The community carved out a strategy to resist greed of Olympic proportions that relied on seven keys to successful resistance<\/strong>: the community\u2019s relative unity in its commitment to stay, access to information,[a]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0legal defense, diverse and resolute leadership, broad networks of support ranging from peer communities to technical partners, creative responses such as the Popular Plan and Evictions Museum<\/a>, and early and ongoing documentation and visibility.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Residents will attribute the success at each moment of their struggle to one or the other of these keys to resistance. For example, in the first year the community\u2019s legal defense was the most critical, in particular allowing the community time to organize on other fronts. And as the struggle went on, creative responses allowed them to solidify their commitment, become more united, and get over psychological hurdles while attracting partners and media attention. And finally, mass attention from the global media and broad networks of support emboldened residents during their most trying period,[b]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0when so many of their neighbors had been removed, services were cut<\/a>, and demolition debris left morale low. And all along, it was the community\u2019s diverse and resolute leadership, able to evolve and adapt among a large number of compelling community members as the struggle continued, that resulted in the relative success of the final outcome.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Though ultimately dismantled in virtually its entirety, Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s victories in the broad context of the history of Rio de Janeiro\u2019s favelas and housing rights in Brazil as a whole (and perhaps ultimately around the world) are many and its lessons far-reaching.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Vila Aut\u00f3dromo was up against the most powerful real estate interests in Brazil, one of the world\u2019s most unequal societies. Yet its battle was uniquely successful<\/a> on numerous levels. Oversold as some sort of paradise<\/a>, Parque Carioca<\/a> was nonetheless one of the better examples of public housing built under the Paes administration, and those who moved there were able to remain in the same region as their jobs and schools. In many cases, families moving to Parque Carioca received multiple apartments\u2014one per adult child plus the parents and grandparents, for example. And there were those who received market-rate compensation<\/a>, the first-ever favela compensations recognizing land value in Rio\u2019s history.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Finally, and perhaps most importantly, those twenty families who remained to the end were able to prove to those who gave up\u2014perhaps ultimately more importantly to communities at threat elsewhere\u2014 that firm, creative resistance pays off. And they signed their agreement collectively, rather than individually with the city.<\/p>\n

    The Rio Olympics proved that, at least somewhere, not everyone has a price. The Games have also inadvertently spread that gospel.<\/p>\n

    Click here for our Timeline of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo’s Story of Resistance<\/a><\/em><\/h3>\n

    This is the final article in a\u00a0six-part series<\/a>\u00a0that comprises the chapter entitled \u201cNot Everyone Has a Price: How the Small Favela of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s Fight Opened a Path to Olympic Resistance\u201d recounting the story of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s struggle. The chapter is part of the book \u2018<\/em>Rio 2016: Olympic Myths, Hard Realities<\/a><\/em>.\u2019\u00a0RioOnWatch would like to thank Brookings Press for providing the permission to republish the chapter here in its entirety.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Notes<\/h3>\n

    [a]<\/a>\u00a0Information that bolstered the community included knowledge of their rights and organizing strategies, as well as the fundamental awareness to distrust what would turn out to be empty political promises, and a firm sense of the consequences and what would be lost were they to be evicted.<\/p>\n

    [b]<\/a>\u00a0A Google News search on May 5, 2017 for \u201cVila Aut\u00f3dromo\u201d yields more than 11,500 results.<\/p>\n

    Additional Bibliographic References<\/h3>\n

    [1]<\/a>\u00a0Jake Cummings, \u201cConfronting Favela Chic: The Gentrification of Informal Settlements in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,\u201d in Global Gentrifications: Uneven Development and Displacement<\/em>, edited by Loretta Lees, Hyun Bang Shin, and Ernesto L\u00f3pez-Morales (Bristol: Policy Press, 2015), pp. 81\u201399, at 84.<\/p>\n

    \n

    Complete Series: Not Everyone Has a Price: The Story of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo’s Olympic Struggle<\/a><\/em><\/h3>\n

    Part 1: (Re)Introducing Favelas<\/a>
    \nPart 2:\u00a0    Introducing Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a>
    \nPart 3:     Vila Aut\u00f3dromo’s Rise as a Symbol of Olympic Resistance (2010-2012) [VIDEO]<\/a>
    \nPart 4:     Intimidation and the Critical Turning Point (2013-2014) [VIDEO]<\/a>
    \nPart 5:     The City Proceeds with Eminent Domain and Violence (2014-2016) [VIDEO]<\/a>
    \nPart 6:     Conclusion\u2014Vila Aut\u00f3dromo in the Context of Rio’s Olympic Evictions<\/a>
    \nAlso see:\u00a0    Timeline of Vila Autodromo<\/a><\/p>\n

    *RioOnWatch<\/em>\u00a0is a project of the NGO Catalytic Communities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas This is the final article in a\u00a0six-part series\u00a0that comprises the book chapter entitled \u201cNot Everyone Has a Price: How the Small Favela of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s Fight Opened a Path to Olympic […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":46616,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1293,2315,1736,1288,1282],"tags":[225,779,126,1495,2032,19,11,762,327,637,1513,5,1866,1618,270,40,1402,383,2634,2789,980,4,38,39,21],"writer":[51],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-46597","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-evictionswatch","8":"category-legacywatch","9":"category-1736","10":"category-highlight","11":"category-research-analysis","12":"tag-barra-da-tijuca","13":"tag-community-leaders","14":"tag-cosmos","15":"tag-eviction-tactics-canceled-services","16":"tag-evictions-museum","17":"tag-favela-do-metro","18":"tag-forced-evictions","19":"tag-largo-do-tanque","20":"tag-legacy-myth","21":"tag-manguinhos","22":"tag-market-rate-compensation","23":"tag-olympics","24":"tag-peoples-plan","25":"tag-pereira-passos","26":"tag-resistance","27":"tag-restinga","28":"tag-legacy","29":"tag-santa-cruz","30":"tag-series","31":"tag-series-vila-autodromo","32":"tag-social-legacy","33":"tag-vila-autodromo","34":"tag-vila-harmonia","35":"tag-vila-recreio-ii","36":"tag-west-zone","37":"writer-theresa-williamson"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/46616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46597"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=46597"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=46597"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=46597"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=46597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}