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UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Solidarity Economies, Networks and the Positioning of Power in Alternative Cultural Production and Activism in Brazil : The Case of Fora do Eixo Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5ms9649g Author Whitworth-Smith, Andrew C. Publication Date 2014 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Solidarity Economies, Networks and the Positioning of Power in Alternative Cultural Production and Activism in Brazil: The Case of Fora do Eixo A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communication by Andrew C. Whitworth-Smith Committee in charge: Professor Daniel Hallin, Chair Professor Boatema Boateng Professor Nitin Govil Professor John McMurria Professor Toby Miller Professor Nancy Postero 2014 COPYRIGHT BY Andrew C. Whitworth-Smith 2014 Some Rights Reserved This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/ The Dissertation of Andrew C. Whitworth-Smith is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Chair University of California, San Diego 2014 iii DEDICATION To Mia Jarlov, for your passion and humility, your capacity to presuppose the best in others, for your endurance and strength, and above all for your friendship. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page………………………………………………………………………. iii Dedication…………………………………………………………………………… iv Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………. v List of Acronyms……………………………………………………………………. xi List of Figures and Tables…………………………………………………………… xii Acknowledgments…………………………………………………………………… xiii Vita…………………………………………………………………………………... xvi Abstract of the Dissertation…………………………………………………………. xvii Chapter One: Introduction……………………………………………………….. 1 I. Roda Viva…………………………………………………………………….. 1 II. Social Backdrop……………………………………………………………… 7 A Reinvigorated Civil Society…………………………………………….. 7 World Social Forum: Um outro mundo é possível………………………... 9 The Rise of the Left: President Lula and the Worker’s Party……………... 9 Ministry of Culture (MinC) and Cultura Viva……………………...……... 10 Lei Rouanet (Rouanet Law)………………………………………...……... 11 Digital Culture……………………………………………………………... 13 Globo Network…………………………………………………………….. 16 Brazilian Music Industry…………………………………………………... 17 III. Methods……………………………………...………………………………. 19 Introduction to Fora do Eixo………………………………………………. 19 v Multi-sited Ethnography and the Messy Text…...………………………… 20 Participant Observation, Situated Knowledge, and Positioned Objectivity.. 22 Data Sources.……………………………………………………..……….. 28 IV. Chapter Outline.……………………………………………………………... 30 Chapter Two: A Theoretical Review……………………………………………... 33 I. Alternative Economies………………………………………………………… 32 Discourse and Discursive Formations……………………………...……… 34 Solidarity Economy……………………………………………………….. 37 Solidarity Economies: Brazil……………………………………………… 40 Karl Polanyi and Economic Embeddedness………………………………. 44 Diverse Economies………………………………………………….…...... 48 Gibson-Graham: Dislocating the Discursive Dominance of Capitalism….. 50 Social Technology…………………………………………………….…… 55 II. Mídia Ninja………...………………………………………………………….. 57 A Brief Summary of Brazil’s Mainstream Media System………………… 59 Framing…………………………………………………………………..... 61 Journalism’s Forty-year Enclosure………………………………………… 62 Media Movements…………………………………………………………. 65 Mídialivrismo……………………………………………………………… 68 Citizen Journalism 2.0……………………………………………………… 71 Citizen versus other frames………………………………………………… 72 Counterpublics……………………………………………………………… 75 Digital Media and Public Sphere…………………………………………… 76 vi III. Conclusion ………………………………………………………………….. 80 Chapter 3: Cultural Economic History of Fora do Eixo………………………… 81 I. The Beginning………………………………………………………………… 82 Calango & the Search for Raison d’être…………………………...……… 82 My Vector for your Sound System………………………………………... 85 The Zine Project and the Beginning of a Cycle of Grants………………… 88 Grito Rock (Scream Rock)………………………………………………… 90 Artist Fees and the Rise of Cubo Card…………………………………….. 91 Bankruptcy and expansion……………………………………………….... 95 Consolidation of Circuito Fora do Eixo………………………………….... 100 II. The Fora do Eixo Economy………………………………………………….. 102 Calango “upgrades”.………………………………………………………. 104 State Relations…………………………………………………………….. 109 For a do Eixo Conference…………………………………………………. 112 Shift in Institutional Identity………………………………………………. 116 III. Move to the Axis: Casa Fora do Eixo, São Paulo……………………………. 118 Expansion of the Fora do Eixo Houses……………………………………. 122 The Fora do Eixo University and the Free University of Culture……….… 127 IV. Conclusion……………………………………………………………............ 129 Chapter 4: Discourse and Power in Fora do Eixo……………………………….. 132 Comment on Data Sources………………………………………………… 134 I. Labor as Discourse……………………………………………………………... 135 Marco’s Tour: Work is life………………………………………………... 135 vii The Collective Bank………………………………………………………. 140 II. A New Economic Subject……………………………………………………. 145 Homo-solidaricus………………………………………………………….. 146 III. Discourse and Power………………………………………………………… 149 Lastro—discourse par excellence…………………………………………. 150 Passa Palavra and Exploitation……………………………………………. 155 Lack of Leisure and Critical Reflection…………………………………… 157 Discursive Re-appropriation………………………………………………. 161 Control, Court, and Co-opt………………………………………………... 165 IV. Card as Discourse…………………………………………………………… 173 Assigning Equivalence……………………………………………………. 176 Labor value………………………………………………………….…….. 178 “A Chuva de Like” (The downpour of ‘Like’)..…………………………... 184 Trade in Solidarity and Delivery of Consensus…………………………… 187 V. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………… 191 Chapter 5: Mída NINJA and the 2013 Brazilian protests………………………. 195 Haddad’s Phone Call……………………………………………………… 196 Chapter Layout……………………………………………………………. 199 Comment on Data Sources………………………………………………… 202 I. Fora do Eixo Revisited: A ‘mediated’ history………………………………… 203 The March for Marijuana and The March for Liberty…………………….. 205 Out Ana de Hollanda! …………………………………………………….. 207 Casa Fora do Eixo Hype…………………………………………………... 209 viii II. Mídia NINJA…………………………………………………………………. 210 Tunis and the Launch of NINJA…………………………………………... 210 The NINJA Economy……………………………………………………... 213 Breaking Narratives……………………………………………………….. 217 Gatekeeping and Editorial Functions……………………………………… 219 III. Background Issues of the 2013 Protests………...…………………...……… 222 Transportation System…………………………………………………….. 224 Urban Renewal or Removal? ……………………………………………... 225 IV. The Protests……………………………………………………………….….. 230 The First Days……………………………………………………………... 230 March on Globo…………………………………………………………… 233 NINJA’s immediate impact……………………………………………….. 234 V. Challenges Ahead……………………………………………………………... 237 Contending with Professionalism…………………………………………. 237 Absorption within the Market System…………………………………….. 242 Mediating Technological Determinism…………………………………… 245 VI. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………… 248 Chapter 6: Conclusion…………………………………………………………….. 251 I. Summary and Reflections…...…………………………………………………. 252 Alternative Cultural Economy and Music Circuit………………………… 252 Model for Social Activism ……………………………………………….. 254 Model for Citizen Journalism……………………………………………... 257 Model for a New Economic Sociability…………………………………... 259 ix Production of Power………………………………………………………. 260 II. Future Research……………………………………………………………….. 261 Mapping Mainstream Culture and Media Industries……………………… 262 Mídia NINJA, a Return to the Field………………………………………. 262 Race in Fora do Eixo……………………………………………………… 263 Comparisons beyond Brazil………………………………………………. 264 Fora do Googleplex……………………………………………………….. 265 Pós-Fora do Eixo………………………………………………………….. 265 Works Cited………………………………………………………..………………. 267 x LIST OF ACRONYMS CC Creative Commons CTS Center for Technology and Society ECAD Central Bureau of Collection and Distribution Embrafilme Brazilian Cinema Company FBES Brazilian Forum on Solidarity Economy FENAJ National Federation of Journalists FGV Getulio Vargas Foundation FNDC National Forum for the Democratization of Communication GOPAI The Access to Information Public Policy Research Group MinC Ministry of Culture MISC Museum of Sound and Image MLM Mídialivrismo Movement [Free Media] NINJA Independent Narratives, Journalism and Action PMBD Brazilian Democratic Movement Party PSD Social Democratic Party PSDB Brazilian Social Democracy Party PSOL Socialism and Freedom Party PSTU United Socialist Worker’s Party PT Worker’s Party PV Green Party SENAES National Secretary of Solidarity Economy UOL Online Universe WSF World Social Forum xi LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1: Map of Brazil 2014 …………………………………………................... 1 Table 1: Influx of Grant Money 2010-2012………………………………………. 108 xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project represents, first and foremost, a collaborative endeavor at every level. My thanks to Maritza Colón, who unlocked the gates to a decade of intellectual play and exploration.