Critique of the ‘Gato’ and the ‘Gato’ as Critique: an Ethnographic Study of the Insinuations about Electricity on the Santa Marta Favela in Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the critiques of the clandestine installation of electricity - known as “gato” - and how it can simultaneously be thought of as criticism. We do so by deploying an ethnographic observation of the exchange of accusations between residents of the Santa Marta favela in Rio de Janeiro and agents of the electricity company Light during the time of the Units of the Pacifying Police. We found a predominance, in both sides, of the insinuation of fraud, a veiled accusation of theft - of electricity on the one hand and of money on the other. The relationship between service providers and customers persists between the payment of supposedly abusive bills and the tolerance of the “gato” allegedly practiced by residents.

Keywords:
critique; insinuation; favela; UPP; illegalisms