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Favela

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File:Favela-CCBY.jpg
Precarious houses in the favela of Complexo do Alemão in Rio de Janeiro.

A favela (Brazilian Portuguese for slum) is the generally used term for a shanty town in Brazil. In the late 18th century, the first settlements were called bairros africanos (African neighborhoods), and they were the place where former slaves with no land ownership and no options for work lived. Over the years, many freed black slaves moved in. However, before the first settlement called "favela" came into being, poor blacks were pushed away from downtown into the far suburbs. Most modern favelas appeared in the 1970s, due to rural exodus, when many people left rural areas of Brazil and moved to cities. Without finding a place to live, many people ended up in a favela.[1]

Description

Favela in São Paulo.

A favela is fundamentally different from a slum or tenement, primarily in terms of its origin and location. While slum quarters in other Latin American countries generally form when poorer residents from the countryside come to larger cities in search of work, and while this also occurs to some extent with favelas, the latter are unique in that they were chiefly created as large populations became displaced. Many favelas now have electricity, a situation that 20 years ago was unheard of. Favelas differ from ghettos such as those in the United States in that they are racially mixed, even though blacks make up the majority of the population - that is, in Brazil it is chiefly economic forces, rather than ethnic or cultural issues, that drive people there.

Shanty towns are units of irregular self-constructed housing that are typically unlicensed and occupied illegally. They are usually on lands belonging to third parties, and are most often located on the urban periphery. Shanty town residences are built randomly, although ad hoc networks of stairways, sidewalks, and simple tracks allow passage through them. Most favelas are inaccessible by vehicle, due to their narrow and irregular streets and walkways and often steep inclines. These areas of irregular and poor-quality housing are often crowded onto hillsides, and as a result, these areas suffer from frequent landslides during heavy rain. In recent decades, favelas have been troubled by drug-related crime and gang warfare. There are often common social codes in some favelas which forbid residents from engaging in criminal activity inside their own favela.

History

It is generally agreed upon that the first favela was created in November 1897 when 20,000 veteran soldiers were brought to Rio de Janeiro and left with no place to live.[2] Some of the older favelas were originally started as quilombos (independent settlements of fugitive African slaves) among the hilly terrain of the area surrounding Rio, which later grew as slaves were liberated in 1888 with no place to live. The favelas were formed prior to the dense occupation of cities and the domination of real estate interests.[3] The housing crisis of the 1940s forced the urban poor to erect hundreds of shantytowns in the suburbs, when favelas replaced tenements as the main type of residence for destitute cariocas (residents of Rio). The explosive era of favela growth dates from the 1940s, when Getúlio Vargas's industrialization drive pulled hundreds of thousands of migrants into the Federal District, until 1970, when shantytowns expanded beyond urban Rio and into the metropolitan periphery.[4] Most of the current favelas began in the 1970s, as a construction boom in the richer neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro initiated a rural exodus of workers from poorer states in Brazil. Heavy flooding in the low-lying slum areas of Rio also forcibly removed a large population into favelas, which are mostly located on Rio's various hillsides. Since favelas have been created under different terms but with similar end results, the term favela has become generally interchangeable with any impoverished areas. Favelas are built around the edge of the main city so in a way they are actually expanding the city. The Brazilian Census of 2000 provided information about the cities with most favelas in Brazil.[5]

Public policy towards favelas

The explosive growth of favelas triggered government removal campaigns. Police have little or no control in many favelas. A program in the 1940s called Parque Proletário destroyed the original homes of those dwelling in favelas in Rio and relocated them to temporary housing as they waited for the building of public housing.[6] Eventually little public housing was built and the land that was cleared for it just became reoccupied with new settlements of favela dwellers. In 1955, Dom Hélder Câmara, Archbishop of Recife and Auxiliary Bishop of Rio de Janeiro, launched the Cruzada São Sebastião (St. Sebastian's Crusade), a federally financed project to build an apartment complex in the largest favela at the time, Praia do Pinto. The goal of the Cruzada was to transform favela dwellers into more acceptable citizens by only housing those willing to give up the vices associated with favela life. One was in Praia do Pinto and the other in the favela of Rádio Nacional in Parada de Lucas.[7] Removal programs of the favelas flourished once again in the 1970s under the military dictatorship, disguised as a government housing program for the poor. What really happened was that more favelas were eliminated and their residents were displaced to urban territory lacking basic infrastructure.[8] The idea was to eliminate the physical existence of favelas by taking advantage of the cheaper prices of suburban land. The favela eradication program became paralyzed eventually because of the resistance of those who were supposed to benefit from the program and a distribution of income did not permit the poor to assume the economic burden of public housing that was placed on them.[9]

Recent developments

In 2007, President Lula announced the PAC, a four-year investment plan, which includes the promotion of urban development for the favelas.

There have been public policies aimed at the favelas from local governments. In Rio de Janeiro, programs such as the favela-bairro and Rio cidade have attempted to mitigate the problem. During the Sérgio Cabral administration, Cidade de Deus and Dona Marta, among others, were rid of drug dealers and received investment in public utilities.

Formation of favela society

A public health team vaccinating children for polio at Rocinha, a favela in Rio de Janeiro, 2001 (Source: CDC)

The people who live in favelas are known as Moradores da favela, or pejoratively as favelados. Favelas are associated with extreme poverty. Brazil's favelas can be seen as the result of the unequal distribution of wealth in the country. Brazil is one of the most economically unequal countries in the world with the top 10 percent of its population earning 50 percent of the national income and about 34 percent of all people living below the poverty line. The Brazilian government has made several attempts in the 20th century to improve the nation's problem of urban poverty. One way was by the eradication of the favelas and favela dwellers that occurred during the 1970s while Brazil was under military governance. These favela eradication programs forcibly removed over 100,000 residents and placed them in public housing projects or back to the rural areas that many emigrated from.[10] Another attempt to deal with urban poverty came by way of gentrification. The government sought to upgrade the favelas and integrate them into the inner city with the newly urbanized upper-middle class. As these "upgraded favelas" became more stable, they began to attract members of the lower-middle class pushing the former favela dwellers onto the streets or outside of the urban center and into the suburbs further away from opportunity and economic advancement. For example: in Rio de Janeiro, the vast majority of the homeless population is black, and part of that can be attributed to favela gentrification and displacement of those in extreme poverty.[11]

Drugs and the favela

Police presence in a favela

The cocaine trade has impacted Brazil and in turn its favelas, which tend to be ruled by drug lords. Regular shoot-outs between traffickers and police and other criminals, as well as assorted illegal activities, lead to murder rates in excess of 40 per 100,000 inhabitants in the city of Rio and much higher rates in some Rio favelas.[12] Traffickers ensure that individual residents can guarantee their own safety through their actions and political connections to them. They do this by maintaining order in the favela and giving and receiving reciprocity and respect, thus creating an environment in which critical segments of the local population feel safe despite continuing high levels of violence.

Drug use is highly concentrated in these areas run by local gangs in each highly populated favela. Drug sales and use run rampant at night when many Favelas host their own baile, or dance party, where many different social classes can be found. These drug sales make up "a business that in some of the occupied areas rakes in as much as US$ 150 million per month, according to official estimates released by the Rio media."[13]

Growth of the favelas

Despite the attempts to cleanse Brazil's major cities like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo of favelas, the poor population is continuing to grow at a rapid pace as well as the modern favelas that house them. In 1969, there were approximately 300 favelas in Rio de Janeiro; today there are twice as many. In fact, the population of the favelas is growing faster than the population of Brazil as a whole. In 1950, only 7 percent of Rio de Janeiro's population lived in favelas, in the 21st century it has grown to 19 percent or about one in five people living in a favela. According to national census data, from 1980–1990, the overall growth rate of Rio de Janeiro dropped by 8 percent, but the favela population increased by 41 percent. After 1990, the city's growth rate leveled at 7 percent, but the favela population increased by 24 percent. By the year 2000, this created an all-time high of people living in concentrated poverty.[14]

Current increases in the population of favelas cannot be credited to the original reasons of rural to urban migration or foreign immigration.[citation needed] These increases can more accurately be linked to the increased downward economic and social mobility of the people. The middle classes are getting poorer[citation needed] and unable to find affordable housing close to work, and the lowest classes are being voluntarily or involuntarily pushed out of the formal favelas of the inner city and into irregular favelas of the periphery because of gentrification. It is difficult to increase one's social and economic status in Brazil's major cities because of the decrease in job opportunities for uneducated and unskilled workers and the decrease in manufacturing jobs for blue-collar workers. There are currently higher educational requirements for job entry in today's society, but it is extremely difficult for the urban poor to have access to higher education. The public education system is not a reliable source for college preparation, and as a general rule, most moradores da favela do not even finish basic schooling. Although college education is free at federal and state universities, high entrance exam scores are necessary and a large majority of young favela inhabitants do not have access to the academically competitive private schools and expensive preparatory courses that would prepare them for the test.[15]

Extant favelas

Panoramic view of the Favela da Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro.

The best-known favelas are those in and around Rio de Janeiro, possibly because Rio's peculiar urban geography has placed many of them up the hills that face the city's prosperous seaside neighbourhoods and tourist spots, and thus made them readily visible. They provide a dramatic illustration of the gap between poverty and wealth, juxtaposed with the luxurious apartment buildings and mansions of Rio's social elite. Several hills in Rio are densely populated by favelas. In 2004, it was estimated that 19 percent of Rio's population lived within favelas. Rocinha, Pavão-Pavãozinho, Parada de Lucas, Maré and Turano are some of the most famous of Rio's favelas.

Cidade de Deus (City of God), made famous in the 2002 film of the same name, is technically not a real favela, since it was originally a government-sponsored housing community designed to replace a favela, which subsequently ran down and took on many of the very social features of favelas it was intended to eradicate. Two run-down condominiums in the affluent Leblon district of Rio de Janeiro are often sarcastically called favelas by locals. However, they are true condominiums, master-planned on deeded land with city utilities, owned individually by unit and managed by associations of their occupants. One, at the front gates of PUC-Rio, was actually built by the government. The other one, south of the horse track and football stadium, was donated to individual favela inhabitants by a wealthy benefactor.

In his 2006 book Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, A New Urban World, Robert Neuwirth reports on the time he spent in the favelas as well as in squatter settlements in other parts of the world. He focuses on some of the positive aspects of life in these places and argues that many of the problems in these communities stem not from the fact that they are poor or illegal but from the way they are viewed by authorities.

In 1995 Michael Jackson shot the video for the song "They Don't Care About Us" in Dona Marta. a favela in Rio de Janeiro. After Jackson's death, the mayor of the city announced plans to erect a statue of Jackson as his video started efforts that transformed the area into "a model for social development".

The 2002 film City of God placed a spotlight on favelas, chronicling the cycle of poverty, violence, and despair in a Rio de Janeiro slum (although arguably Cidade de Deus does not meet the strict definition of a favela). The documentary Bus 174, also released in 2002, placed a focus on the poor conditions of favelas and their instigation of social stigmatization and street crime.

The 2005 documentary Favela Rising, directed by Jeff Zimbalist, has won several awards for its daring look at life in Brazil's slums. The film focuses on the work of Anderson Sá, a former drug trafficker who establishes the music group Afro Reggae. This group aims at using music and education to better the lives of youth and prevent further growth of gangs.

The 2007 film Tropa de Elite (Elite Squad) shows the Brazilian elite force BOPE fighting against the drug lord of the favela Babilônia, in 1997. The favela must be "cleaned" because Pope John Paul II would stay at the nearby Rio Archbishop's Residence during his visit to Rio de Janeiro.

The Brazilian television series City of Men and the 2007 film version takes place in a favela.

The skateboarding video game Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam has a skate course in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.

One of the levels in the PC game Counter-Strike takes place in a Rio de Janeiro favela.

The 2000 film BMW Vermelho shows the economic and cultural aspects of living in a favela from a comedic perspective when a favela resident wins a BMW that he can neither use nor sell.

In the game SOCOM II one of the areas of operation is in a Rio de Janeiro favela.

The opening scenes of Marvel and Universal Studios' 2008 film The Incredible Hulk find main character Bruce Banner hiding out incognito in a densely-populated Brazilian favela, with an elaborate chase scene ensuing amid the rooftops and alleyways.

In 2009, a favela of São Paulo was the backdrop for the photo shoot of episode 10 of Cycle 12 of America's Next Top Model.

In 2009, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 depicts a favela in two single player campaign levels, "Takedown" and "The Hornet's Nest" where the player must escape the pursuing Militia, after capturing and interrogating one of their weapons dealers. It is also shown in the multiplayer map "Favela".

See also

Favelas

References

  1. ^ Darcy Ribeiro, O Povo Brasileiro
  2. ^ Favelas commemorate 100 years - accessed December 25, 2006
  3. ^ Ney dos Santos Oliveira., "Favelas and Ghettos:race and Class in Rio de Janeiro and New York City"
  4. ^ Pino, Julio Cesar. Sources on the history of favelas in Brazil.
  5. ^ http://hps.infolink.com.br/peco/cb010128.htm
  6. ^ Ney dos Santos Oliveira., "Favelas and Ghettos: race and Class in Rio de Janeiro and New York City"
  7. ^ Pino, Julio Cesar. Sources on the History of favelas in Brazil.
  8. ^ Ney dos Santos Oliveira., "Favelas and Ghettos:race and Class in Rio de Janeiro and New York City"
  9. ^ Housing Policy, Urban Poverty, and the State:The Favelas of Rio de Janeiro 1972–1976
  10. ^ Perlman, Janice E,.2006.The Metamorphosis of Marginality: Four Generations in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.606 Annals 154:2
  11. ^ Oliveira, Ney dos Santos.1996.Favelas and Ghettos: Race and Class in Rio de Janeiro and New York City.Latin American Perspectives 23:82.
  12. ^ The Myth of Personal Security: Criminal Gangs, Dispute Resolution, and Identity in Rio de Janeiro's Favelas. By: Arias, Enrique Desmond; Rodrigues, Corinne Davis. Latin American Politics & Society, Winter2006, Vol. 48 Issue 4, p 53–81, 29p.
  13. ^ Brazil - Brazzil Mag - Brazilian Army Caves in to Favela's Drug Dealers
  14. ^ Favelas Growing 4.5% a Year in Brazil
  15. ^ Perlman, Janice E,.2006.The Metamorphosis of Marginality: Four Generations in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.606 Annals 154:10
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