THE CHALLENGE OF THE SLUMS: LOOKING FOR DEMOCRATIC INCLUSION IN THE SQUATTER SETTLEMENTS OF RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL By BRYAN CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2008 1 Copyright 2008 by Bryan C. Williams 2 To all of the good people who shared their lives with me and made my work possible. 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Although there is only one author of this dissertation, and consequently only one individual to assume the blame for all of its inaccuracies and oversimplifications, there are many people who contributed in various ways to any success in capturing any small part of ‗truth‘ that may be found herein. My most grateful thanks goes to my two mothers, my father, and my beautiful wife whose support was essential to the completion of this document that represents a lifetime of education and pondering. I am thankful to be surrounded by an intellectually stimulating family that understands the importance of long journeys of exploration in order to develop greater personal understandings of the world around. Of equal importance to my study was their generosity with their time, patience, and their cooking that allowed me to concentrate on struggling with ideas rather than the maintenance of my body and home. I would also like to thank my dissertation committee for their instruction and personal insight on how I might decode the complexity of the great blooming, buzzing confusion of the world. More specifically, I owe a large debt of gratitude to the Chairperson of my committee, Dr. Göran Hyden, for consenting to help me organize my thoughts and interests about development administration, and eventually acting as the midwife for the document that follows. Similarly, Dr. Larry Dodd was important to my work in that he first helped me understand the multiple views and approaches to the study of events and moments in time, as well as processes across time, and then he directed me towards those approaches that best led to an empirical, scientific method of study for my particular puzzle. I asked Dr. Kenneth Wald to be a member of my committee because I value his practical approach to methodology, making the difficult connections between quantitative and qualitative studies that he uses to produce thick considerations of the effects of religion on political behavior. More than any other professor, Dr. Wald made me feel that he had time to discuss 4 ideas with me, which gave me the confidence to trust my own scholarship and take on the difficult task of researching and writing a dissertation in the slums of a foreign country. I must thank Dr. Phillip Williams and Dr. Manuel Vasquez for the subject- and geographical-area expertise that they brought to my committee. Both specialize in Latin America as seen through the lens of religion, and both are familiar with the slums (favelas) of Rio de Janeiro. Their penetrating questions drove me to a tighter focus, and a greater humility in accepting my role as a participant in the slowly-developing conversation that is the body of political science knowledge. I would like to single out Dr. José Cláudio Alves of the Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro for his selflessness in sharing his home, his knowledge, his friendship, and his contacts with me. I am truly moved when I reflect on how much he has had to do with all of the positive aspects of my life in Rio de Janeiro, and more relevant to these acknowledgements, my ability to complete my research here. His presence in this section is inadequate to express the depth of my appreciation for the kindness he has shown and the inspiration he provided. In closing, I would like to mention a few institutions that have funded my work over the years. The UF Shimberg Center for Affordable Housing supported my initial two years in the PhD program and provided me with interesting work that helped me understand development politics in Florida. The UF Center for Latin American Studies provided funding for two pre- dissertation trips to Brazil as well as two years Portuguese study through the Federal Language Area Studies program and their Tinker grant. Finally, the Fulbright Organization financed fourteen months of field research in Rio de Janeiro, as well as an exciting community of motivated researchers to interact with. I realize that I have taken on a lifelong obligation of shaping a career that honors the investment that everyone has put into me. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................8 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................10 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................11 CHAPTER 1 LOOKING FOR DEMOCRACY IN THE SLUMS OF RIO DE JANEIRO ........................13 A Global Problem ...................................................................................................................16 The Economic Drain ........................................................................................................17 Informality versus the State .............................................................................................18 A Crisis of Democracy and A Crisis of State Authority .................................................20 The Political Climate of Rio ...................................................................................................22 Democracy or Clientelism? ....................................................................................................25 What Is Meant by ‗Democracy‘ .............................................................................................26 Elements of Democracy ..................................................................................................28 Democratic Structures .....................................................................................................29 Democratic Processes ......................................................................................................31 State Autonomy ...............................................................................................................32 Methodology ...........................................................................................................................34 Framework for This Manuscript .............................................................................................36 2 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF FAVELAS IN RIO DE JANEIRO .......................................42 Introduction .............................................................................................................................42 Pre-1900 At the Birth of the Nation Comes the Birth of Favelas ..........................................49 1900-1930 The Period of Rapid Urbanization ........................................................................53 1930-1964 The Vargas Years .................................................................................................61 1964-1984 The Military Dictatorship Decides to Clean House .............................................72 1984-Present The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same ...............................79 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................................83 3 SOCIAL CAPITAL AND THE SLUM .................................................................................87 Introduction .............................................................................................................................87 What is Social Capital ............................................................................................................88 Social Capital at the Individual Level .............................................................................89 Social Capital at the Community Level ...........................................................................97 Bonding, Bridging, Blinding, and Binding Social Capital ............................................102 Social Capital in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro ....................................................................106 6 Social Capital as an Individual Resource ......................................................................108 Social Capital as an Exit Option ....................................................................................111 Social Capital Embedding Favela Residents in Government and Society ....................115 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................123 4 SOCIAL CAPITAL AND THE CAPACITY TO ACT IN CONCERT ..............................134 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................134 Social Capital and the Capacity to Concert ..........................................................................137 The Capacity to Concert in Favelas .....................................................................................143 The Vaccine