At the Fork of Gender and Democracy No Cruzamento De Gênero E Democracia
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At the Fork of Gender and Democracy No Cruzamento de Gênero e Democracia Ethnography of a Gatekeeper with Political Aspiration in so-called Slum in Recife, Brazil during Presidential Election 2018 Yusaku Yoshikawa Wageningen University & Research Major thesis for Master Development & Rural Innovation Chairgroup: Sociology of Development & Change (SDC) Supervisor: dr.ir. Pieter de Vries Second reader: dr.ir. Joost Jongerden Student Number: 930910980090 Date: March, 2019 Table of Contents Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................... 2 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER 1. FAVELA THE PHANTOM ............................................ 5 1.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 5 1.2 THEORISING SLUMS AND THE POLITICAL ASPECT ............................................... 7 1.3 RECIFE & COQUE .................................................................................................. 9 1.4 METHODOLOGIES ................................................................................................ 14 1.5 ETHICAL ISSUES .................................................................................................. 16 1.6 THESIS STRUCTURE ............................................................................................ 17 CHAPTER 2. “DO YOU WANT TO MARRY ME?” ............................ 19 2.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 19 2.2 (UN)CONSCIOUS REAFFIRMATION OF MALE DOMINANCE THROUGH GENDER JOKES IN COQUE ....................................................................................................... 21 2.3 VARIOUS GENDER ISSUES IN COQUE: FAMILY, POPULAR MUSIC, AND LGBTS 28 2.4 JOKE AS HOPE: OVERTURNING STRUCTURE? .................................................... 35 2.5 SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ 37 CHAPTER 3: RETHINKING “LAUGHTER OF THE OPPRESSED”: EXPLORING A DARK SIDE OF HUMOUR IN FAVELA IN RECIFE, NORTHEAST BRAZIL .................................................................... 39 3.1. ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... 39 3.2 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 39 3.3 JOKES IN COQUE ................................................................................................. 43 3.4 CONCLUSION: FUNCTIONS OF HUMOUR IN THE FAVELA .................................... 47 CHAPTER 4. “HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE TO DISLIKE WOMEN, HE IS MARRIED!” .................................................................................... 49 4.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 49 4.2 GENERAL BACKGROUND OF THE ELECTION ...................................................... 50 4.3 THE ELECTION IN RECIFE .................................................................................. 55 4.4 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... 67 CHAPTER 5. “STANDING UP FOR THE COMMUNITY” ................. 69 5.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 69 5.2 (EMBRYONIC) ANALYSIS OF CLIENTELISM “IN EMBRYO” .................................. 70 5.3 PRIVATE & PUBLIC: AMBIVALENT SUBJECTIVITIES? ......................................... 78 5.4 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... 88 EPILOGUE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................... 89 Chapter 1. Favela the Phantom APPENDIX ..................................................................................... 90 REFERENCES ............................................................................... 93 3 Abstract Abstract This ethnographic research deals with three different topics of gender, election, and political broker in a so-called slum (favela) in Recife, northeast Brazil called Coque. In one sentence, it is about the ceaseless struggle of an individual (political broker) in the male-centric community (gender) under the politically intense moment (election). My argument is threefold. First, I show male-centricity is highly normalised in Coque through daily interactions such as sexual jokes (gender) by drawing on Bourdieusian concept habitus, a subtle yet steady inculcation of the social norms. The habitus offers “regulated liberties,” that is, it simultaneously generates an infinite number of ideas and blindfolds the choice unfit to the norms. Second, I report the Brazilian presidential election 2018 was a sheer mudslinging contest (election). Two big powers (Worker’s Party [PT] and a far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro) slandered each other. The strategic difference might influence on the outcome is that Bolsonaro was successful at denying the criticism (“he is not a fascist”), whereas PT had to ignore the libel since their corruption scandals have been manifest. In short, denial outweighed ignorance. Third, a person in favela has to well manoeuvre himself under this bleak situation (both in terms of gender and politics) for his political ambition (political broker). Vavá, a gay person with aspiration to be a city councillor, had an immature clientelistic relationship with a political candidate to relate himself to the politics. This suggests conventional clientelism to pay further attention to the forming process and gender aspect because Vavá has a unique network of his gay friends. He thoroughly decouples his political and private sphere: he stays mute about his sexuality in political settings but becomes expressive when with gay friends. I see this detachment as an intersection of three spheres of gender, election, and political broker. I extend the feminists’ Bourdieusian debate to Judith Butler and argue the tactic is construed as performativity producing his gender identity hinged on the social norms and conditions above. Keywords: Slum politics, Brazilian presidential election, habitus, performativity, ethnography, jokes, gender identity, clientelism Chapter 1. Favela the Phantom Chapter 1. Favela the Phantom What is a “favela”? 1.1 Introduction Imagine a high street. It is lined with miscellaneous shops e.g. boutique, lanchonete (snack store), small market, bar, cake shop, grocery store, bakery, pet shop, and Japanese restaurant. Five-minutes' walk from the lively street takes you to the soccer field with new illuminations and open-air field where people wearing stylish sportswear from famous brands do exercise. By adding ten more minutes to the walk, you would reach to one of the biggest metro/bus stations in the city. Would you think I am talking about the high-end residential area in the Cosmopolis? The answer is no. This is Coque, a well-known “slum” in Recife, a coastal city of northeast Brazil. I wrote the first paragraph of my thesis in this tricky way to avoid giving a stereotypical image of this multi-faceted place. Gilbert (2007) pointed out that the word "slum" entails negative, dirty, and homogenous image of the place whereas in reality every “slum” is different and diverse. He also mentioned that slum, the word signifies only physical problem of poor-quality housing such as insufficient hygiene and water supply, has been mixed up with the characteristics of the people living there. I think it is not too far-fetched to say this implication has motivated the mainstream view regarding slum as a problem that should be “solved” through external inventions such as state-led upgrading projects. Many people I met had a thought that Coque is an extremely dangerous, or even barbarous place; whenever I told that I stay in Coque to people outside, like people living in the city of Recife, they sighed and commented: “you are courageous.” I also heard some saying Coque is “another universe” before this visit. Although it is true that Coque has been notorious for its high crime rate and frequent violence over the past years, I argue this type of fear or antipathy sometimes has no just ground. It seems that the negative might that word "slum", in Portuguese favela, possesses is accelerating these emotions. Not only people outside but also inside are quite aware of this stigmatization. I consciously asked the question “Do you think Coque is a favela?” to the residents and the dominant answer was “No, Coque is not a favela”. Instead, they were likely to use the word “comunidade [community]" as the same meaning pulled off the negative accent. It is worthwhile to take a closer look at these answers. Some added: “But I know people in the city call here favela”. Some others put the title of the favela to other places such as palafitas [stilts] besides a river or even Africa. In short, on the one hand, people in Coque are conscious about the fact that Coque is seen as favela from its outside. On the other hand, they do not consider Coque as a favela. Favela is always somewhere else. Therefore, I treat Portuguese word favela as a translation of the English word “slum,” but with an emphasis on its negative aspect in this thesis. I sometimes use the word “slum” when referring to preceding studies and hinting a negative