The article discusses the consequences of the present pattern of urban violence on the sociability and policies in popular districts of Rio de Janeiro from the perspectives and political proposals of the new social question as well as the anti-utilitarian thought of some French social scientists. Initially, it discusses the suggestions for active citizenship or for social life participation in several ways and levels for the remaking of the nation State. Then, it analyses the ambiguities and paradoxes of reciprocity in order to reflect upon modern reciprocity as characterised by solidarity towards the stranger and by new amplified networks of social bonds which minimise violence. Lastly, the exclusions and the shaken circuits of reciprocity in today's Brazil are considered in their relationship with the way in which crime is organised and how the new internal-classes divisions established themselves in Rio de Janeiro.
Active citizenship; Right to live in society; Modern reciprocity; Sociability; Urban violence