City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 2-2016 Development, Security and Displacement: An Ethnographic Case Study of Rocinha and other Key Favelas in Rio de Janeiro Marcos D. Burgos Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/746 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] Development, Security and Displacement: An Ethnographic Case Study of Rocinha and other Key Favelas in Rio de Janeiro. by Marcos David Burgos A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York. 2016 i 2016 Marcos David Burgos Some Rights Reserved This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. ii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Sociology in satisfaction of the Dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. David C. Brotherton Chair of Examining Committee _________ Date Philip Kasinitz Executive Officer _________ Date Professor Jayne Mooney Professor John Hammond Professor Paul Attewell Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii Abstract Development, Security and Displacement: An Ethnographic Case Study of Rocinha and other Key Favelas in Rio de Janeiro. by Marcos David Burgos Advisor: Professor David C. Brotherton This study highlights the complex and generally overlooked relationship between development, urban space, and security, and does so through a multiyear ethnographic study of Rocinha, Brazil’s largest favela (slum/squatter community). Since 2007 unprecedented resources have been devoted towards improving Rio de Janeiro’s favelas (slums), mainly in the form of large-scale favela upgrading and security programs. Coinciding with the historic improvement schemes in Rio, and in large part responsible for them, Brazil’s economy experienced one of its most sustain period of growth during the first decade of the twentieth century. For the first time, strong economic growth and a historic decrease in income inequality occurred simultaneously. This was a period in which the Workers Party, the PT, rose to the top of political power, a feat not achieved by a leftist party since the military overthrow of João Goulart’s democratically elected government in 1964. Under Lula and then Dilma, the PT era has seen some of the largest development and social assistance programs and policies implemented in Brazil’s history, such as the Program for Accelerated Growth (PAC), My House, My Life (MCMV), and the internationally known Bolsa Família, or Family Grant. Meanwhile, Brazil and Rio de Janeiro’s pursuit to rebrand themselves as modern and developed through a series of mega sporting event capital of the world also official begins in iv 2007. Having passed the pilot test with the 2007 Pan-American Games, that same year Brazil won the bid for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Between late 2008 and early 2009 Rio de Janeiro state began the largest public security program ever, installing Police Pacification Units (UPPs) in strategic favelas. Also in 2009, Rio won the bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games. After over two decades of military dictatorship (1964-1985), a rocky transition back to democracy that was marked by another two decades of harsh neoliberalism and some of the world’s highest levels of inequality and violence, a sense of hope for better times was beginning to emerged among many Brazilians, and especially cariocas (natives of Rio). But as is often the case in the history of capitalism, in order to create change or “progress”, something must inevitably be destroyed. In April 2010 heavy rains and landslides killed dozens of people in Rio’s favelas. The city’s mayor Eduardo Paes immediately announced what would become the city’s largest favela removal operation since the 1964-1975 military dictatorship campaign. The justification for removing what would have been at least 119 favelas and upwards of 200 thousand residents was based on protecting them from environmental risks, such as landslides and flooding. I was living in one the neighborhoods where the rains caused deaths and which was intensely targeted for removal. Although it was a terrifying experience, in another sense it provided a privileged position for observing how greed and corruption can pervert otherwise benevolent social programs and investments, such as protecting citizens from natural disasters and improving their neighborhoods. Between 2009 and 2013 between 60-70 thousand residents of favelas were displaced from their communities. Of particular concern are the record numbers of forced removals occurring in areas important to elite lifestyles and capitalist accumulation in general. The figures would have been substantially higher had fierce local resistance not slowed the City’s plans. By mid- 2013 the recent political economic crises gripping Brazil had begun and continuing mass removals became politically and by 2014 financially unfeasible. While “area of risk” classification have been responsible for the majority of removals, thousands of families have also v been displaced because of urban upgrading and renewal projects related to the mega-events. I originally hypothesized that alongside the intense real estate speculation revolving around the World Cup and Olympics that favela upgrading and the UPPs would have led to more forced removals and even gentrification in strategically located favelas. These types of displacement have occurred differently than originally anticipated and much of this dissertation looks at the reasons why. After years of carefully observing transformations from community level vantage point I came to believe that many of the changes produced by favela “improvement” programs are undesirable, and are negatively altering the urban landscape in ways most residents of Rocinha and other impacted favelas did not anticipate. In addition to other concerns, forced removals and incipient gentrification are increasing sociospatial segregation in Rio de Janeiro. Among the main descriptive contributions this research offers are multiyear (and ongoing) firsthand accounts of the specific tactics used in Rio de Janeiro to remove residents of favelas, and the contradictory role improvement schemes, including security programs, play in this process. vi Acknowledgements The following is an all too brief expression of the immense gratitude I give to so many that have helped me achieve the completion of my studies and research presented here. Members of my committee deserve sincere thanks. My chair, David C. Brotherton, for being a mentor and a friend, for actually coming to visit me in Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, where most fieldwork was conducted; Paul Attewell, for his insight and abundant patience; Jack Hammond, for his vast knowledge of Latin America, including Brazil; and Jane Mooney for coming on during the final stages and offering some of the most practical advice I could have asked for. I want to thank the late Jock Young, whose work inspired much of this dissertation and who was on my committee until his untimely death in late 2013. I thank Mauricio Font for providing me my first job in graduate school, at the Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere Studies, and for sharing his knowledge of Brazil with me. I also want to thank the Phil Kasinitz and Rati Kashyap for their helpfulness during many years and their patience with me being overseas so often. I am grateful for my friendship with the Santos family in Recife, who many years ago sparked my interest in Brazil. I would like to acknowledge St John’s University for making it possible for me to spend a year in Brazil as an exchange student with PUC in 2001, which was when I moved into Rocinha, and this journey and research began. Later, after my graduation, St. John’s also gave me my first university teaching experience. I am greatly indebted to my many friends in Brazil, far too many to mention, but I am appreciative of Felix Garcia Lopez, for years of his friendship and sociological knowledge, to Gustavo Batista, a longtime buddies and one of my first roommates in Rocinha. To Vilma and Thiago for laughter in times of great need. I thank the many residents of Rocinha who have enriched my life and made this work possible. I want to particularly thank Itamar, Ricardo, Aparecida, Leo (magrelo), and Dona vii Luzia, the latter whose sensational cooking fed my body and soul for the last 15 years. Thanks to my two little brother Luan Martins and Bruno Calvacante, who I witnessed grow from little boys into true gentlemen. A very special thanks to André Sales Batista and Martins for years of helping me with complex research angels of this project, and for their wonderful friendship. To the Father Marcos Williams, who was my first professor in Brazil, longtime friend, and for providing me employment while I completed my interviews. And once more, to all my beloved friends in Rocinha who became like family and allowed me to be part of their families, and to the trusting and informative participants in my research who allowed me to interview them and record their personal histories, without them this study would not have been possible, All of you in Brazil not only made this research possible but improved my life with your wisdom, knowledge, and patience. To Flavia Christina Rodrigues Santos who lifted my spirits and encouraged me when I was exhausted. Without her love and laughter I could not have made it through the last three years. I want to thank Razack, one of my first roommates in Rocinha, and a great mentor, for leading the way in accomplishing a PhD and constantly encouraging me from as far away as Cape Town, South Africa.