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The “Battles of Rio”: war metaphors and policies for Rio’s favelas (1946-1961)

Abstract

The article analyzes the politics surrounding the favelas (shantytowns) of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and observes the permanence of the rhetoric of the “battles of the favelas” in the discourses of different social agents, which reproduced the ideas of a limited citizenship. The metaphors of war helped to legitimate urban projects in the city of Rio de Janeiro, which planned to distinguish “favelado workers” from “dangerous classes” in accessing welfare policies and social rights, proposed a civic pedagogy to recover the “urbanity” of the residents in favelas, and articulated a heterotopic representation of the urban informality in Rio de Janeiro. The analysis is based on extensive documentary research in official reports, legislation and in the press, analyzing how the metaphor of war was linked to the arenas of conflict in Rio’s political culture.

Keywords
Uruguay; Frente Amplio; social movements; social conflicts

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